Formed by Spanish merchants to trade with the Caracas province of the colony of Venezuela and was the first of the great trading companies formed in Spain. A monopoly was obtained in 1732 which the company gradually abused by paying too little for its produce in Venezuela and overcharging for them on importation into Spain. The company’s privileges were reduced and it fell steadily into decline and in 1781 it lost its monopoly of trade altogether. It was absorbed into the Real Compania de Filipinas in 1785 and its shares were exchanged for those of the Filipinas Company.