According to initial estimates obtained by the Spanish Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (ASCRI) through the European EDC Platform, investment volume in Spain last year totalled EUR5,843.5m in 670 investments, reaching record levels for the second year in a row.
Miguel Zurita, ASCRI Chairman, says: “We have had two consecutive years of record investment volume, which is great news not only for the Venture Capital & Private Equity sector, but for the Spanish economy as a whole. Even so, the dependency of international investors is still very high; therefore, it is important to move forward in the development of a competitive legal and fiscal framework with the rest of Europe that facilitates the access of national institutional investors to the “asset class” and that allows the development and growth of national managers. From ASCRI, we are working hard to achieve these improvements, convinced that they would have a positive impact beyond our sector, also in the business sector and in Spanish savers.”
By type of investor, international funds continue to show significant interest in Spain, accounting for 77 per cent of total investment volume in a total of 118 investments. Private domestic investors made a total of 454 investments, with public domestic investors making 98 investments.
By investment size, the middle market (transactions with an equity investment between EUR10 million and EUR100 million) reached record highs, raising a total of EUR1,467 million in 56 investments. By total number of investments, 84 per cent received less than EUR5 million in equity. Furthermore, a total of 8 mega-deals were closed, totalling EUR3,697 million (63 per cent of total volume invested).
By stage of development, investments in buy outs stood out, totalling EUR3,529 million in 50 transactions. Growth capital received 96 deals totalling EUR606 million.
Investments by Venture Capital funds remained high for the second year in a row, totalling EUR417 million in a total of 510 investments. International Venture Capital funds closed out the year with a record high number of transactions (84). Some 340 investments were made by private domestic funds and 86 by public funds.
Including both Spanish Venture Capital & Private Equity, the sectors with the highest investment volume were Energy/Natural Resources (20.4 per cent), Leisure (17.9 per cent) and Communications (17.8 per cent). By number of investments, the best-performing sectors were IT (46 per cent), Consumer Goods (9.1 per cent) and Healthcare (7.2 per cent).
