(peHUB) Darby Private Equity, the private equity unit of Franklin Templeton Investments, said Tuesday it has made a “significant” investment in Cobis Systems Corp. No financial terms were disclosed. Corbis is a Latin American provider of financial sector software.
PRESS RELEASE
Washington, DC, September 3, 2013 – Darby Private Equity (“Darby”), the private equity arm of Franklin Templeton Investments, announced that Darby ProBanco Fund II has made a significant investment in Cobis Systems Corporation. Transaction terms were not disclosed.
The Darby ProBanco Fund II specializes in the financial sector in Latin America, and currently holds investments in Mexico, Dominican Republic and Central America.
Cobis is a leading Latin American provider of financial sector software, with its core banking system running in over 70 banks in the region through licensing relationships, web-enabled cloud based SaaS software solutions, and full outsourcing solutions managing mission critical IT infrastructure for financial institutions in Latin America. The firm originated in Ecuador and today has seven offices and over 600 employees across 15 countries with significant operations in Ecuador, Colombia and Panama.
Roberto Velarde, Darby’s Managing Director for Latin America Private Equity, commented: “This transaction represents another example of Darby’s experience and capabilities in supporting middle-market companies with long-term growth capital in the region. Darby looks forward to working actively with the company to implement its strategic plans.”
Alejandro Schwedhelm, Managing Director responsible for Darby’s Financial Services Group commented: “Darby is delighted to partner with the founding shareholders of Cobis, who have successfully built the only internationally-rated bank software company in Latin America. Our investment will support Cobis’ roll-out of new technologies, which in turn will allow its client banks to effectively face increasing regulatory requirements, improve efficiency and meet growing customer expectations.”
Darby Private Equity was founded in 1994 by The Honorable Nicholas F. Brady, who served as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury between 1988 and 1993. Richard Frank joined the firm as CEO in 1997 after his career at the International Finance Corporation (IFC)/World Bank. In 2003, Darby became a fully owned subsidiary of Franklin Resources, Inc. [NYSE:BEN], a global investment management organization operating as Franklin Templeton Investments. For more information please visit darbyoverseas.com.
Franklin Templeton Investments provides global and domestic investment management solutions managed by its Franklin, Templeton, Mutual Series, Fiduciary Trust, Darby and Bissett investment teams. The San Mateo, CA-based company has more than 60 years of investment experience and US$834 billion in assets under management as of July 31, 2013. For more information, please visit franklintempleton.com.