Hi all, real down and dirty, Replacement is pretty close to the mark. DIAM was really started by the Spanish Gov't and the purpose was to get all the gun makers (big and small) under one company. Several opted out (Ugartechea, Arrieta, Grulla/Union Armera to name a few) AyA did join DIARM. The venture was financed by the Gov't and bought quite a bit of high tech equipment, gone was the hand crafted guns that made Eiber famous and in fact the Factory was not even in Eiber. Over 20 makers joined, but the experiment didn't last but a couple years. Almost all those who joined never came back. The exception was AyA. They reorganized and made it.
Guns were still marked AyA and even Sarriugarte, but the boxes the guns were shipped in were marked DIARM.
One of the failings of the company was too many chiefs. Everyone wanted to be someone. In fact F. Sarriugarte was the Chairman.
The full story is found in Weiland's book, an excellent read all the way around.
All the best!
Greg
