Portobello Capital Acquires Centauro as the Last Investment of its Fund III

2017/04/25

Spanish private equity firm Portobello Capital has acquired a majority stake in Centauro, a leading off-airport rent-a-car company in the Mediterranean and Portuguese coast.
April 25th, 2017
 
Founded in 1973 and headquartered in Benidorm, Centauro is one of the leading off-airport rent-a-car operators in Spain and Portugal with fifteen branches located in key tourism destinations such as Alicante, Mallorca, Ibiza, Barcelona, Murcia, Málaga, Seville, Madrid, Lisbon, Porto and Faro.
The remaining shares will continue in the hands of the business’ founders, the Devesa family. The current chief executive officer, Erik Devesa, whohas an extensive experience in the sector, will remain as CEO of Centauro.
Centauro manages a fleet of over 18,000 vehicles. In 2016, the company reached €66m and has budgeted €81m for 2017. Centauro works closely with relevant international automakers and focuses on the quality and price of its service.
The strategy to follow along with Portobello Capital is to consolidate a fragmented sector and grow in new locations, mainly in Europe, significantly increasing its market share.
Luis Peñarrocha, Partner at Portobello Capital, said: “We are very satisfied with this investment. Together with the current management team, led by Erik Devesa, our intention is to provide the capital and the necessary resources to strengthen the expansion plan initiated by the Company, which in the last twelve months has led it to increase its presence in 4 new airports in Spain and Portugal.”
“The addition of Portobello into the capital of Centauro further strengthens our position to face the future development of our Company, to carry out new challenges and remain as one of the reference car rental companies in Europe,” Erik Devesa commented.
Portobello Capital is a leading private equity fund manager in the Spanish Middle Market, managed by a strong team led by its founding partners Íñigo Sánchez-Asiaín, Juan Luis Ramírez, Ramón Cerdeiras and Luis Peñarrocha.
The Portobello Capital Fund III, the largest in Spain in recent years, was closed in 2014 at 375 million euros that have been invested in seven companies: Vitalia Home (elderly care homes), IAN (canned vegetables and ready-to-eat meals under the Carretilla brand), EYSA (technology services and solutions aimed at improving mobility in cities), Iberconsa (frozen seafood products), Laulagun Bearings (large bearing for windmills), Ramón Sabater (processing and distribution of paprika, spices and herbs) and Trison (digital signage).
In July 2015 Portobello closed its first secondary fund, the “Portobello Capital Secondary Fund I”, that comprises all the portfolio companies of Portobello Capital Fund II, including amongst others: Ice Cream Factory (private label ice cream manufacturer), Mediterránea (catering services for hospitals, schools and companies), AngulasAguinaga (value-added, ready-to-eat and refrigerated fish products), Multiasistencia (outsourcing of home insurance claims management for banks and insurance companies) and GrupoUno CTC (outsourcing of marketing, merchandising and promotional logistics services).
Advisers
Portobello Capital has been advised in this transaction byFidentiis.
The selling party has been advised in this transaction by Banco Santander.
PORTOBELLO CAPITAL
EXPANSIÓN