Wed, Nov 11, 2026
A A A
Welcome Guest
Free Trial RSS pod
Get FREE trial access to our award winning publications
Alternative Market Briefing

José María Loizaga Viguri the father of Spanish private equity industry dies from Coronavirus

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York:

José María Loizaga Viguri, who is credited with the establishing private equity in Spain has died from complications relating to Coronavirus, he was 84. At the time of his death, Loizaga was a vice president at Spanish construction giant ACS Group.

Loizaga had an extensive career in Spanish finance. He was the founder of Banco Hispano Industrial (BHA Group) and later became CEO of Banco Unión. In 1985, he founded Mercapital Servicios Financieros, the first Spanish private equity firm. Loizaga led the firm until 2008. The firm invested primarily in Spanish middle market companies, with a view to those companies growing internationally and particularly in Latin America.

During his tenure at Mercapital and on boards at other Spanish firms, Loizaga was a central figure in the growth of Spanish capitalism throughout the 1980s-2000s. Loizaga served on the boards of Banque Privée Edmond de Rothschild, Suez International, Otis International, AmorimInvestment, Lácteas García Baquero, and Unión Fenosa. Throughout his time with Mercapital, Loizaga also served on the board of ACS Group, eventually transitioning to ACS Group after naming his son Javier his successor at Mercapital.

Mercapital capital merged with N+1 to become N+1 Mercapital in 2012, creating Spain's largest private equity firm at the time. In 2016, the firm rebranded as Alantra - a global investment banking firm. Javier Loizaga went on to lead Spanish private equity fi......................

To view our full article Click here

Previous Opalesque Exclusives                                  
Previous Other Voices                                               
Access Alternative Market Briefing

 



  • Top Forwarded
  • Top Tracked
  • Top Searched
  1. Opalesque Exclusive: DACH institutions push alternatives to 32.3% of portfolios as hedge funds make a comeback[more]

    Matthias Knab, Opalesque for New Managers: Institutional investors in Germany, Austria and Switzerland now hold almost a third of their portfolios in alternative investments, and they are more confident than ever in

  2. KRX chief courts CalPERS for bigger bet on Korea[more]

    Korea Exchange Chairman and CEO Jeong Eun-bo held talks with California Public Employees' Retirement System, or CalPERS, to promote greater investment in South Korea's capital markets, the bourse operator announced Wednesday. Jeong met with CalPERS Chief Investment Officer Stephen Gilmore.

  3. 755 Unicorns, $8 Trillion: Fifth Era maps the autonomous digital economy[more]

    Matthias Knab, Opalesque for New Managers: Fifth Era Partners, a specialized asset manager focused on the convergence of Internet, AI/Agentic and Blockchain technologies, has released the findings of its 13th Bia

  4. Opalesque Exclusive: "Enough beta plays" - how Fasanara builds an alpha-only multi-strategy platform[more]

    Matthias Knab, Opalesque for New Managers: Most multi-strategy funds promise diversification. Fewer can explain why their return streams should stay independent when markets turn. In an Opalesque SkillsLab investor

  5. Opalesque Exclusive: Governance, Scale, and Boutique Resilience in a Consolidating Hedge Fund Industry[more]

    Matthias Knab, Opalesque for New Managers: The hedge fund industry has undergone significant consolidation in recent years, with capital increasingly concentrated among large multi-strategy platforms. Yet boutique m