SPAIN - A good year for private equity in the Basque Country

The Sociedad de Gestión de Capital Riesgo del País Vasco, entity managing the private equity activities in the Basque country, is forecasted to end the year of 2006 with investments in 15 companies, totalling EUR 11m. The entity was launched in 1985 via the Sociedad para la Promoción y Reconversión Industrial (SPRI), a business development agency created in 1981 by the Basque Government to provide back-up and services to the Basque industry.