Event Report

Looking ahead at Private Equity

Attendees of The Legal 500’s Latin America Round Table series event on the outlook for Private Equity investment in Mexico read like a who’s who of the county’s PE world, with representatives of Morgan Staney, Nexus Capital, Fondo de Fondos, Citibanamex, Evercore, BlackRock, Wamex, Actinver, LIV Capital, JP Morgan, the Abraaj Group, Advent and Amexcap among those present in sponsor firm White & Case’s penthouse office’ boardroom on the Boulevard Manuel Ávila Camacho.

The conversation kicked off with consideration of the impact of the two major hurdles Mexico is currently facing: the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (specifically in terms of its impact –if any- on fundraising), and secondly, Mexico’s mid-year Presidential elections (specifically in terms of whether political changes stemming from the elections would impact upon the role of the Fondo de Fondos and other institutional investors).

Taking its lead from the experience of the currency fluctuations endured in the wake of President Trump’s election, the discussion then turned to look at currency and exchange issues and the vulnerability of the Mexican peso (particularly in relation to hedging practices and the availability of local credit). Other matters included issues emerging from ongoing developments in competition and anti-trust regulations; what policy reforms any new administration should pursue in order to encourage exits in Mexico; and to what extent that anti-corruption due diligence has achieved the status of standard market practice in Mexican PE deals.

In association with...