Advent International has raised a US$2b final close for Advent Latin American Private Equity Fund VII (LAPEF VII). The vehicle will target investments in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru across five sectors: business and financial services; health care; industrial; retail, consumer, and leisure; and technology.

(Press Release) Advent International, one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors, today announced that it has completed fundraising for Advent Latin American Private Equity Fund VII (“LAPEF VII” or the “Fund”). LAPEF VII received $2 billion in commitments from institutional investors worldwide.

The new fund brings Advent’s total capital raised for Latin America since 1996 to approximately $8 billion—the most of any private equity firm operating in the region.¹ Including its Global Private Equity IX and Advent Tech funds closed last year, Advent has raised $22 billion in private equity capital in the last 16 months.

“LAPEF VII is a testament to our strong track record in Latin America, established over six generations of funds and several economic and private equity cycles,” said Patrice Etlin, a Managing Partner at Advent in São Paulo and member of the firm’s global Executive Committee. “We continue to see compelling investment opportunities in the region, driven by attractive valuations and positive, long-term market dynamics. We look forward to partnering with mid-sized to large companies and helping them grow by applying our deep sector expertise, global platform and world-class operational resources.”

Continuing the same pan-regional, sector-focused strategy as its predecessors, LAPEF VII will invest primarily in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, and may also invest opportunistically in nearby countries including Argentina and Chile. It will focus on five sectors where Advent has significant experience and knowledge: (1) business and financial services; (2) healthcare; (3) industrial; (4) retail, consumer and leisure; and (5) technology. The Fund will have the flexibility to deploy capital across various deal types—including buyouts, corporate carve-outs and growth equity transactions—and sizes, with equity investments ranging from $50 million to $300 million or more.

“Latin America is a large market with a rapidly growing middle class, fueling strong demand for value-added products and services,” said Juan Pablo Zucchini, a Managing Partner at Advent, also based in São Paulo. “Additionally, many Latin American sectors remain highly fragmented, and a large percentage of mid-sized businesses are family-owned. This presents opportunities to create value by consolidating industries, professionalizing businesses and accelerating growth.”

A broad base of institutional investors participated in LAPEF VII, including public and corporate pension funds, endowments and foundations, funds of funds, sovereign wealth funds, family offices and other financial institutions. The majority of the capital came from limited partners in LAPEF VI, with Advent admitting a select number of new strategic investors into the Fund as well.

“LAPEF VII reinforces Advent’s leadership position in Latin America and underscores our continued commitment to the region,” said David Mussafer, a Managing Partner at Advent in Boston and Co-Chair of the firm’s Executive Committee. “We appreciate the continued support from our diverse base of institutional investors and are delighted to welcome select new investors to the LAPEF program.”

ADVENT’S LEADERSHIP POSITION IN LATIN AMERICA
The new fund solidifies Advent’s position as one of the leading and longest-established private equity investors in Latin America. Over the past 24 years, the firm has invested or committed $6.8 billion in 64 businesses across the region and fully exited its positions in 43 companies, including nine IPOs. Today, its current Latin American portfolio companies employ more than 80,000 people. The firm has established the largest dedicated private equity team in the region, comprising nearly 40 investment and portfolio support professionals working out of offices in Bogotá, Lima, Mexico City and São Paulo.

In recognition of its achievements, industry participants and editors of Private Equity International magazine have named Advent “Firm of the Year in Latin America” for 11 of the past 15 years.

ADVENT’S VALUE CREATION APPROACH
In Latin America, as in other regions, Advent employs a resource-intensive, operational approach to investing. The firm partners with management teams to build long-term value in companies through operational improvements, organic growth and acquisitions, both domestically and internationally. To help drive these initiatives, Advent has established a large network of resources in the region. This includes 39 investment and portfolio support professionals and 30 external operating partners and operations advisors—senior executives with deep sector and functional expertise.

By applying these capabilities, Advent has helped Latin American businesses achieve significant growth and value. Since 2006, companies that Advent has owned for at least a year have increased revenue and EBITDA on average by 14% and 13% annually during its investment. The combined enterprise value of the firm’s Latin American portfolio has doubled to $41 billion under its ownership.

RECENT INVESTMENTS AND EXITS IN LATIN AMERICA
Advent’s recent investments in Latin America include Nubank, the world’s largest independent digital bank; CI&T, a global provider of digital transformation services; Prisma Medios de Pago, Argentina’s leading payments company; Grupo BIG (formerly Walmart Brazil), the third-largest food retailer in Brazil; Enjoy, a hotel and casino operator in Chile, Uruguay and Argentina; Grupo Farmacéutico Somar, a leading generic drug manufacturer in Mexico; YDUQS, the second-largest post-secondary education company in Brazil; and Canvia, a leading IT services provider in Peru.

Recent exits in Latin America include Easynvest, the largest digital investment platform in Brazil; Lojas Quero-Quero, the largest construction materials retailer in Brazil by number of stores; Ocensa, Colombia’s largest crude oil pipeline; Grupo Biotoscana (GBT), a leading biopharmaceutical company in Latin America; International Meal Company (IMC), one of the region’s largest operators of airport, road-side and casual dining restaurants; Alianza Fiduciaria and Alianza Valores, the leading independent trust and asset management company in Colombia; Faculdade da Serra Gaucha (FSG), a private education company in southern Brazil; Terminal de Contêineres de Paranaguá (TCP), the second-largest container terminal in Brazil; and Grupo Fleury, Brazil’s largest provider of premium medical diagnostic services.

In addition to LAPEF VII, Advent is investing its ninth global private equity fund, GPE IX, focused on buyouts across Europe, North America and Asia; and a dedicated technology fund, Advent Tech.