Steady in the storm with regional opportunites

JULY, 2009Steady The Storm

 

After a decade of steady growth Central America is weathering the global financial downturn comparatively well and continues to offer regional opportunities for private equity. Historically, this small, diversified region has suffered from armed conflict, political instability, weak institutions and a lack of legal frameworks and enforcement. However, stable democratic governments allied with disciplined fiscal policies brought an unprecedented period of growth in the past decade with steady growth rates on average above 5%. According to IMF figures from 2006 Central America with 5.5% Real GDP growth was second only to Latin America and the Caribbean with 5.9%. Through interviews with some of the main players in the region Alternative Latin Investor has found that in addition to the countries within Central America nations such as Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador are increasingly becoming of interest to private equity investors looking for more region wide plays as opposed to focusing on a particular country. Peru and Colombia have been and are two countries that have demonstrated stability in fiscal terms for Peru and with internal security matters in Colombia. The nature of Central America with its small countries is dictating that small or regional investments are attracting the most private equity interest. Mark Bishop from The Provident Group feels that the conditions investors have been waiting for are now becoming reality “Initially, back in our earlier days we did a lot of work in Central America ourselves. We were early in the game there. We thought there was going to be a lot more consolidation regionally. It looks like it’s becoming a lot more interesting now”.

When asked by Alternative Latin Investor if The Provident Group would now be refocusing on the region Mark Bishop is optimistic but cautious “the problem with Central America was and remains, very fragmented economies, small markets and lack of experience with legal transparency –it makes putting capital in there just much more difficult. At the end of the day people are going to cherry pick - there is going to be a couple of selective opportunities but its still a difficult market to get your arms round”.Aureos Latin America fund is the largest private equity fund in the region with over US$200 million under management between three funds. They are primarily a provider of capital for companies that are looking to expand or funds for management buy-outs. The majority of their investments are around the $5million dollar mark and Erik Peterson Regional Managing Partner Aureos Latin America says they see greater regional integr.....




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