Realza Capital maiden fund in EUR170m final close

01 December 2008

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Fund

Realza Capital has reached the final closing of its inaugural fund, Realza Capital, on EUR170m, above the EUR120m target. The vehicle, based in Spain, was launched in March 2007; it has a 5+5 lifespan structure with a possible 2-year extension. Initial subscriptions were set at EUR3m with the GP contributing 2% to the fund. Management fees, carry and hurdle have been referred to as adhering to "industry standards." Elm Capital was the exclusive financial adviser to Realza Capital for the fundraising while SJBerwin has been retained as legal adviser.

Investors

The investor base is split between funds-of-funds (56%), pension funds (20%), family offices (8%), insurance companies (8%), banks (5%) and holding companies (3%). 95.5% of Realza Capital's investors are European (17.6% Spanish), while the remaining 4.5% are from the US.

In addition to Spanish financial institutions, the majority of its investors are large international institutions, such as JP Morgan Private Equity Limited, Credit Agricole Asset Management Capital Investors, Dunedin Enterprise, Gartmore Private Equity, Industriens Pensionsforsikring A/S, Capvent AG and Pohjola Private Equity Funds Oy, among others.

Investments

The vehicle will focus on the lower end of the Spanish mid-market investing EUR13m-20m (equity) in SMEs with a value ranging between EUR15-120m. Realza Capital closed its first investment in October 2007, acquiring a majority stake in Clinicas Perio, a chain of dental practices in Spain positioned in the high end of the market.

People

The fund will be managed by Alfredo Zavala and Martin Gonzalez del Valle, two private equity professionals with more than 20 years experience between them. Zavala is a former partner of Mercapital and Gonzalez del Valle is a former managing director and partner at Investindustrial. Javier Benjumea was recently appointed chairman. Previously, Benjumea was CEO, managing partner and vice-chairman of Mercapital (1989-2006), and served as a board member of several of its portfolio companies.

The team is completed by two investment directors: David Nunez, formerly a director at Catalana de Iniciatives and Carlos Gazulla, who was previously a director at Mobius, a Spanish venture capital firm. They are supported by two analysts, Pedro Fernandez-Amatriain who joined from Citigroup, and Miguel Gimenez de Cordoba who recently joined Realza Capital after working at Deutsche Bank in London.

Name: Realza Capital

Closed on: EUR170m September 2008

Focus: Small-/mid-cap, growth, buyout

Contact: Alfredo Zavala

Martin Gonzalez del Valle

Address: Realza Capital

Paseo de la Castellana, 50 - 4 degs

28046 Madrid

Spain

Tel: +34 91 782 0981

Fax: +34 91 782 0983.