Lanza Capital (formerly Firmum Capital) has raised a new €550 million fund with the aim of buying car parks, exceeding the maximum fund size initially expected.
Having raised €210 million previously, this is its second fund, also oversubscribed. It is a follow-on fund, one of the largest raised in Spain, with Brookfield Asset Management and Partners Group, acting on behalf of its clients, as anchor investors. The investment vehicles have acquired 110 off-street car parks at the first closing, with more than 43,000 parking spaces across Spain.
In addition to this initial purchase, the transaction will provide the platform with additional funds to undertake new car park purchases. Lanza Capital's car park portfolio is expected to increase significantly in the coming years through new acquisitions, thus continuing the growth strategy implemented over the last seven years and the consolidation project in a sector that is still highly fragmented. Investors in the previous fund have obtained an attractive return, in line with the expected return on this type of infrastructure investment. The company's strategy is to have an annual net profitability of between 15% and 16%, which is leveraged on the electrification of the car park business. Lanza Capital does not rule out acquiring assets in other markets such as France and Italy. All acquisitions will be made in equal parts equity and debt.
Lanza Capital is led by two founding partners, both 50% shareholders: Bernardino Díaz-Andreu as Executive Chairman, and Fernando Pire as CEO. Bernardino Díaz-Andreu and Fernando Pire have more than 25 years of successful investment and management experience in the alternative asset sector. In addition, the fund has a first class team of professionals, which will increase to more than 20 people.
Banco Sabadell participated by marketing the fund's investment vehicles exclusively to its private banking clients. Altamar Advisory Partners and Embarcadero Private Equity collaborated in the transaction as financial advisors. Altamar Advisory already participated in 2015 in the creation of the car park platform promoted by Firmum Capital, which also had the support of AltamarCAM Partners. Pérez-Llorca, Baker & McKenzie, Clifford Chance and Ropes & Gray have participated as legal advisors. On the insurance side, Aon advised. Antica Partners worked on the traffic study. On the strategic side, Roland Berger and LEK Consulting were involved in the transaction. EY acted as financial due diligence advisor.
