We believe that your company
We foster long term strategies and relationships in order to ensure business continuity, creating value for the industry and the society, as a whole.
Vigía Capital is an investment firm, created by two entrepreneurs, with the objective of acquiring, operating and growing a company in Spain. We are the sustainable and lasting solution for those business owners who seek to sell their company while maintaining their legacy.
About us
Vigía Capital
Vigía Capital is the consequence of the entrepreneurial spirit of its two founders, Javier González-Tovar and Pedro Lago García, supported by an exceptional group of investors, comprised of business owners and executives. Both Principals are leading a project aimed to identify solvent Spanish SME with great potential, and guide them into long-term sustainable growth.
We seek to complete a single acquisition and dedicate ourselves exclusively to the generation of value of the acquired company, without time pressure, and respecting the legacy of the founders. Vigía Capital believes in establishing reliable and lasting relationships, through responsible leadership, that allows sustainable and respectful growth.
Our Values
Continuity
We seek a seemless transition, always respecting the legacy received. We will do so by thinking in the long term, with a sole objective: to maintain a sustainable company model in social and economic terms.
Dedication
A unique transaction with exclusive dedication on a full time basis.
Passion
We chose to pursue our passion, putting all our energy into bringing continuity to a project that was certainly born with the same kind of enthusiasm.
Integrity
We believe staying true to our commitments is our most valuable attribute. We are honest, open, ethical and fair with people. For us, human capital is always the most important asset of the company.
Out strategy
We aim to find solvent businesses with a committed management, sustainable advantages and opportunities for growth.
In Vigía Capital, we understand that each sector and business are different. We are ready to study every opportunity individually with the current business owner.
We have a deep commitment to maintain the current legacy. Our investment will always be made with the greatest possible care, counting whenever possible, with the workers of the company.
- Turnover between €5MM and €35MM with high percentage recurrent sales contracts.
- High Free Cash Flow generation.
- Cost competitive and high stable margins.
- Non seasonal sectors, low technology obsolescence risk and low exposure to regulatory changes.
- No great capital needs to finance growth
- Family owned companies, with owners with a clear intention to retire for personal reasons.
- Divestitures of multinationals or national conglomerates.
Why us?
We do not only pursue an economical result but, also to strengthen the received legacy, fostering initiatives to positively contribute to all the stakeholders.
Ratios and Financial KPIs have high impact in the decision making process.
Our approach
We aim to conduct just one operation and we will put all our energy and knowledge into it. That is our greatest passion in life.
Multiple operations and a broad company portfolio.
We believe in creating a sustainable model through operational excellence, as well as sales and margin improvement. We believe in leveraging the knowledge acquired through past experiences.
Restructuring, synergies, mergers of asset disposal.
Timing
Not defined. We look for permanence and continuity.
Defined (mainly 5 years).
Our Target
Companies with a turnover ranging between € 5-35MM and €1,5-4.0MM EBITDA.
Companies with more than €50MM turnover and more than €5MM EBITDA, start-ups or restructuring scenarios (Chapter 11 or insolvencies).
Our team
Vigía Capital, has the best possible team to obtain the greatest results.
The group is led by Javier Gonzalez-Tovar and Pedro Lago as Director Partners, and backed by a top-level national and international investor base with a brilliant track record and knowledge in multiple sectors and industries. The team of investors consists of senior executives in the financial world, former CEOs of large institutions and top-level academics. All of them, have an active role in Vigía Capital, offering advise and mentoring the Director Partners.
Javier González-Tovar
Co-founder – Partner
Javier is a co-founder of Vigía Capital. He has developed an extensive professional career of more than 25 years in various positions, including leveraged finance and investment banking, holding several management positions for various financial institutions, such as, JP Morgan, Crédit Agricole or the German bank IKB. In these assignments, he led several local debt transactions. He also performed financial consulting and M & A tasks in Socios Financieros, a reputable local Advisory firm. During all these years, Javier has established in Spain an extensive network of relationships with different stakeholders of the financial and managerial world. He also has a relevant international profile, as a result of his working experience in the United States, Latin America and Europe. In all these positions, he has had the opportunity to lead various teams, analyzing a wide range of transactions in various sectors, developing a solid vision for business. He also enjoys professional experience in industrial companies, such as the Siro Group, TAFISA or the French Business Group Luis Dreyfuss, in which he held positions of responsibility in sales, exports and logistics with significant exposure to these businesses.
Javier holds an MBA from The Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, and a B.A. in Business Administration from the Universidad Pontificia de Comillas (ICADE, E-2).
Pedro Lago
Socio – Partner
Pedro is co-founder of Vigía Capital. He has more than 15 years of work experience in business leadership, consulting, and operational and financial restructuring. He has worked as Senior Manager for Deloitte and KPMG in strategy projects, operational improvement and debt restructuring. His industry experience covers retail, construction, automotive, leisure and tourism, industrial and food.
In recent years, Pedro worked for Grupo Siro, first as Director of Corporate Finance, leading the acquisition of assets and business units, and later as COO in Americas, where he led the Business with full responsibility on the P&L and the corporate functional areas.
Pedro is an economist and a physicist, holds an MBA from the University of Edinburgh and has participated in the MIT’s AMP program in Boston.
AI Global is an international investment company with interests in multiple long-term asset classes, including search funds, private equity, and late-stage ventures that are spearheaded by highly motivated, talented entrepreneurs. The firm brings value by working closely with its partners throughout all of the phases of any project or investment as well as leveraging on its international network of experts and collaborators. The company is a very active global Search Fund investor.
José Moreno is the Managing Partner of the firm. Previously, José was a Junior Partner in ECM Corporate Finance, a Spanish boutique that provides financial advisory services to CFOs and CEOs of small and medium-sized companies as well as family businesses on financial planning, special situations, fundraising and IPO processes. He also worked in several technology start-ups in Germany and Spain and began his career as a Business Analyst at British American Tobacco (BAT) based out of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
José holds a Bachelor of Science in Electronic and Computer Engineering from Tecnológico de Monterrey and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from IESE Business School. He is also an alumnus of the CEMS-MIM program (Bocconi & HEC Paris).
León is a professional investor in real estate and in listed and unlisted companies of different industries. León is one of the most active and respected international members within the Search Fund Community and is, among other positions, member of the Board of Directors of Repli, the first company acquired by a Search Fund in Spain. Previously, León founded and was Managing Director and CIO of BBVA & Partners A.V., a company dedicated to the management of Hedge Funds. León was also Managing Director and Head of Proprietary Trading at Banco Santander, and Treasurer and Member of the Board of Directors of Bank Of America S.A. in Spain.
León is a graduate of the Commercial University of Deusto, and owns an MBA from IESE.
Alfredo Soriano is Senior Advisor of JB Capital Markets, one of the leading securities and financial services firms in Spain. Among other activities, he develops international expansion projects and has previously led and established the Investment Banking unit, an activity in which Alfredo has over 25 years of work experience. Previous to his engagement with JB Capital, he was a founding partner and managing partner of Ambers & Co, a corporate finance firm eventually integrated in Ernst & Young (E&Y). In E&Y he has also been the Managing Director in the M&A area.
Alfredo began his professional career in Arthur Andersen Corporate Finance. He is an economically trained lawyer, member of various management boards and an occasional speaker and lecturer.
ALZA Capital Partners is a private equity firm specialized in search fund investments at a global scale. We invest in acquisitions of small & medium-sized profitable companies, sourced and operated by search fund managers. ALZA adds value by working closely with search fund managers throughout all of the phases of the investment and management cycle. They take a proactive approach on every investment, and provide ongoing guidance before, during, and especially after the acquisition of the business.
ALZA has offices strategically located in Mexico and Spain.
Ángel Álvarez, is the person appointed by ALZA Capital to supervise the investment in Vigía Capital. Ángel has extensive experience in the world of M & A, private equity and venture capital having worked for firms such as JP Morgan and Miura Private Equity, and as a counselor and advisor in various investment committees within the world of seed capital. Additionally, together with Guillermo Zambrano, he has successfully founded and managed Lottus Capital Partners, one of the first search funds in Mexico. Ángel is an industrial engineer and economist from Northwestern University and Master in Finance from London Business School.
Antonio Baselga has a great career in investment banking, private equity and structured finance, working as Senior Banker and Director in financial institutions such as Bankers Trust or Bridge Point. Currently, Antonio is an active investor in multiple FMCGs companies and start-ups, as well as an active part of the governing body of small and medium-sized companies.
Antonio has a law degree from the Universidad Complutense in Madrid and M.Sc. by the University of Wales.
Juan Carlos Gabilondo has broad experience in wholesale banking, with relevant job positions in multiple entities in the sector. He started his professional career at Bank of America, in 1984, and after working in Bankers Trust Co, and Banco Santander, he opened the office of Bank of Scotland in Spain. Since 2002 he has worked with the Lloyds Group, where he currently runs the Corporate Finance business in Iberia. He is also Senior Advisor of E&Y.
Juan Carlos holds an MBA from Columbia University and a degree in economics from Deusto. He is married and has two wonderful children.
Fernando Herrero was founder and CEO of Inversis Banco until 2015. Previously, he held top management positions in the corporate business unit and the business banking unit of Grupo Argentaria and Banco Exterior de España, Credit Lyonnais and in the venture capital firm Talde. He has also been a member of the board of directors of several companies. Among others: Indra Sistemas SA, Banco Atlántico SA, Cross Road Biotech SA, Bilbao Trading SA, Foreign Bank of Spain and Argentaria Business Bank, NCapital SL, Ecolumber SA and Andbank Spain
Javier López Antón has more than 25 years of experience and is considered one of the leading lawyers in Spain in the areas of banking, project, and acquisition financing. He has experience representing lenders, underwriters, and borrowers in leveraged, project, real estate, corporate, and asset-backed financing as well as pre-insolvency and other kinds of conventional and complex financing structures. Javier counsels financial institutions, project sponsors, and investors in the development, financing, acquisition, and disposition of infrastructure and renewable energy companies, telecom projects, hotels, and real estate. He has extensive experience working on cross-border transactions in Spain, Mexico, and throughout Latin America.
Javier’s recent experience includes advising a syndicate of lenders in a financing transaction to Grupo Isolux Corsan S.A., a listed global Spanish construction and engineering company, in the restructuring of its nearly €2 billion in debt; representing Autopistas del Sol, S.A., a wholly owned subsidiary of Global Vía Infraestructuras, S.A., a Spanish leader in infrastructure concession management, in connection with a Rule 144A and Regulation S offering by Autopistas del Sol of $300 million aggregate principal amount of Senior Secured Notes, which is the first concurrent and international bond issuance in Costa Rica; and the representation of Portobello Capital in the acquisition financing of a group of several companies operating in the sanitary sector throughout Spain.
Javier has advised AEE Power; BBVA; Santander; Caixabank; Royal Bank of Scotland; Portobello Capital Gestión, SGEIC, S.A.; and Globalvía Inversiones, S.A.U.; among others.
Rob Johnson is a Visiting Professor in the Entrepreneurship Department at IESE Business School. He is a successful entrepreneur and venture capital investor. From 1990 he was on the faculty of London Business School for ten years, where he designed and taught a course on entrepreneurial finance and founded the European Business Plan of the Year Competition. He also founded the International Search Fund Center at IESE.
He served as a director, and in several cases as chairman, of many private companies and was actively involved in those companies from their early financing to successful trade sales and IPOs. Rob serves on the advisory board of Palamon Capital Partners in London, the investment committee of the Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar Development Fund, and the boards of several search fund companies. His areas of specialization include financing new ventures, the private equity industry, and search funds.
Rob holds a Bachelor of Arts from Davidson College, a Master in Christianity and Interreligious Dialogue from the University of London and an MBA from the Darden School, University of Virginia.
Inversiones Cabiedes, is the investment vehicle of José and Luis Martín Gutiérrez de Cabiedes, one of the most experienced investment funds in Search Funds in Spain, representing a world class reference, with more than 30 investments worldwide.
Vigía Capital, has the support of José Martín Gutiérrez de Cabiedes, founder and Managing Partner of Inversiones Cabiedes. José is a professor of Entrepreneurship at IESE, and Member of the Board of Directors of Europa Press. He is also founder and mentor in UEIA, an incubator for initiatives of social nature in the field of ICT. Previously, José was Managing Director of BBVA Asset Management and founder of the Hedge Fund BBVA & Partners.
He also worked in the trading area of Banco Santander. José is an Industrial Engineer from the Universidad Pontificia de Comillas (ICAI), and has a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from IESE.
Itziar and Maitane have an extensive trajectory on Wealth Management. Maitane is an economist with 20 years experience in Wealth Management, Sports Wealth Management, Immigration Services and Private Banking. She worked at Merrill Lynch for over 20 years, and is actively involved with Women In Banking and Finance and various sports including athletics and basketball. Maitane speaks English, Spanish, Basque, Greek and Italian, and is currently studying Chinese and Portuguese.
Itziar has over 20 years of experience in the Wealth Management field. She is chartered advisor for the CNMV and currently works as Senior Advisor in the securities firm, Tressis.
JB46 Investment Partners (JB46) is an investment vehicle in Search Funds with a clear mission to help the searcher in his/her entrepreneurial effort, not only from a financial perspective but also when managing the business. The JB46 team is made up of top professionals with a long and proven track record in the financial and business sector. JB46 will provide Vigía Capital with all kinds of tools and advice needed to achieve success.
Francisco Galiana, is the person appointed by JB46 to supervise the investment in Vigía Capital. With more than 30 years of work experience in the financial sector and 25 years of experience at Banco Santander, Francisco held several relevant positions in the Corporate Banking unit and in the Corporate Lending division. Francisco is a Civil Engineer and has a PDG from IESE in Madrid.
José Andrés Barreiro has a remarkable and successful professional career in the Banking sector, holding very relevant positions. José has been Director of Capital Markets in BBVA covering LatAm, USA, Europe and ASIA, member of the Global Executive Committee, Director of Corporate Banking and Investment, Director of Asset Management, and Director of Private Banking in Spain. Prior to his career at BBVA José was the General Manager of Global Markets and Treasury of Argentaria, and General Director in Capital Markets and Treasury for Spain at Banco Santander. Additionally, he worked at Bankers Trust in the Capital Markets area,
Luis Camilleri has a long and successful career within the Private Equity sector and other non financial industries. Luis has more than 20 years of work experience as an investment professional in private equity. He started his professional career at Arthur Andersen. Among other relevant positions, he was, for 11 years, until 2012, the Managing Director of Advent International Corporation. Luis was also a founding partner of Dresdner Kleinwort Capital Spain (DrKC), Investment Manager in Iberfomento, Controller at Texaco Spain and General Manager of Floyd.
Additionally, Luis has been Advisor in a large number of companies and he has led investments in fields such as retail, health, pharmaceutical, consumer and leisure. He currently actively participates in different initiatives on entrepreneurship, like his role in Endeavor and Ashoka Spain, both focussed on social entrepreneurship.
Luis is also an investor in several Search Funds in Spain and holds a degree in law and economics from ICADE.
Juan Díaz Laviada is a prestigious professional with a distinguished career in the financial sector and venture capital. After 20 years as Country Head of Advent in Spain, he is the current President of Advent International in Spain. He is Founding Partner and Managing Director of Dresdner Kleinwort Capital Spain (where he worked with Advent in several joint-ventures from 1996 to 2002). Prior to DRKC, Juan was Founding Partner of Iberfomento, an independent company focussed on capital investment and mergers and acquisitions. Previously, he was Manager of Arthur Andersen, working in the consulting and auditing division. Juan has also been the President of ASCRI, the Spanish Venture Capital Association.
Juan holds a degree in Law and Business Administration from ICADE and MBP from Keller School of Management, Chicago. He is also a member of the College of Economist Auditors.
Roberto Ranera has developed his professional activity in the field of private equity and entrepreneurship. He is Founding Partner in Beable Capital, a venture capital firm for the creation of business opportunities through science. He has also been the General Director of Hiperion Capital Management, Director of investments in Vista Capital and Director of Technology of 3i Spain. As part of his activity related to entrepreneurship and start-ups, Roberto belonged to more than 25 management boards of different companies, contributing with his knowledge to all the phases of Venture Capital: start, growth, industrialization and purchase.
Simon Webster was the first person to raise a search fund in the UK. Through the search fund model, he acquired RSL in 1995 and became its CEO. Over a 10-year period Simon expanded the organization organically as well as through acquisitions, resulting in a quasi-tenfold sales growth. He led the sale of the business in 2005 and remained CEO until 2007.
Simon is a passionate believer in the search fund model. He has helped to expand knowledge of the model through activities at London Business School, INSEAD, IESE and Judge Business School (Cambridge).
Simon is now a mentor to search funders as well as being an investor with over 35 search fund investments and he is a non-executive director on several search fund boards. In addition to his search fund activities, Simon is the Chairman of R Healthcare and a Director of ESMS Global Limited (a Contract Research Organization servicing the pharmaceutical sector).
Vonzeo Capital is a financial institution that accelerates the dreams of entrepreneurs who want to acquire a company. Vonzeo’s philosophy stays true to the collaborative approach between the entrepreneur and Vonzeo Senior Leadership. Vonzeo Capital is comprised/supported by a team of academics and CEOs with deep understanding of the business environment. In addition to this, Vonzeo develops cutting-edge research that will be relevant when running companies.
Jan Simon will be mentoring Vigía Capital on behalf of Vonzeo. Jan career has always been close to he financial industry including, among others, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and Salomon Brothers. His expertise include the areas of: investment strategies, entrepreneurial finance and mergers and acquisitions for both European and North American markets. He has also been a Special Limited Partner to Pacific Lake Partners, a top tier Search Fund of Funds, advising the firm on their investments in international search funds and acquisitions.
In addition to this, since 2003 he has been teaching at graduate schools in Europe and North America. He is a Visiting Professor at IESE Business School and has been a Visiting Scholar at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Jan has designed and delivered Executive custom courses at IESE and INSEAD. He has won numerous Teaching Awards and The Economist rated him as one of the Top #20 Business School Professors in the world.
Jan holds a LL.B. and LL.M. from the Katholieke Universtiteit Leuven, a MBA from IESE Business School and earned his Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Essex. He served the first battalion Para-Commando as well as NATO’s Special Intervention Forces. He holds both Commando A and Parachutist A military certificates.
Enrique is a mine engineer who has dedicated his entire professional career to the energy industry, always in the Repsol Group, its subsidiaries and its affiliates in both corporate areas and business areas. Among other responsibilities, he was Managing Director at Campsa (later CLH), Managing Director of Repsol Química, Executive Vice President of Repsol Comercial, Managing Director of Petronor, Managing Director of Gas Natural, General Manager of YPF, General Director for Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia, and member of the Steering Committee of Repsol. He finished his professional career as Executive Vice President of the Repsol Foundation. He has also been advisor in multiple companies such as Enagás and Omel (today OMIE).
In the Spanish Energy Club, he has been the President of the Spanish Committee of the World Energy Council, and he is currently a member of its Board of Directors.
Iván has developed his professional life around the wealth management arena and he is an active investor in Venture Capital and Search Funds. He is currently vice president at J.P. Morgan Chase, in the Geneva office, where he has developed his career during the last years. Iván holds a degree in Business Administration from the University of Deusto.
Juan Cuesta has developed a successful career around the private equity and venture capital industries. Among other relevant positions, he was Partner in MBO partenaire, a boutique of private capital of an entrepreneurial nature with focus on small and medium enterprises and Managing Director of Corpfin Capital. He was previously a Senior Investor in Citicorp Venture Capital.
Juan is a Civil Engineer from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and a Master in Finance from HEC Paris.
Contact us
If you are a business owner or you know someone who wants to sell his/her business, please do not hesitate to contact us.
We guarantee the confidentiality of the information, at all times.
Calle de Goya, 20 (2º izquierda)
28001, Madrid, Spain