Victoria Capital Partners

an independent private equity firm focused on investments in South America

About us

Victoria Capital Partners LP (together with its affiliates, “Victoria Capital Partners” or the “Firm”) is an independent investment firm, wholly owned by its partners. Focused on private equity investments in South America, Victoria Capital Partners was established in 2007 as DLJ South American Partners and was renamed Victoria in 2011. To date, the Firm has raised capital commitments in excess of US$1.7 billion in aggregate. Victoria Capital Partners seeks significant capital appreciation through equity-related investments in leading, growth-oriented companies across its core markets in South America.

Victoria Capital Partners is managed by one of the most experienced private equity teams in South America, members of which have been working together for an average of more than 19 years and have helped pioneer private equity investing in the region beginning in 1995. Victoria Capital Partners’ regional approach provides its investors with broad diversification by country and emphasizes relative value in different cycles across the region. Victoria Capital Partners actively customizes and refines its strategy for each country according to the prevailing trends, opportunities and risks within the relevant market. The Firm generally targets control, joint-control, and significant minority positions with active board participation, value creation involvement and contractual governance tools.

The Firm is active in Argentina, Colombia, Chile, and Peru.

Our Investors

Victoria Capital Partners has built long-term relationships with a wide array of limited partners worldwide.  Most of the Firm’s investor base is comprised of sovereign wealth funds, multilateral agencies, private and governmental pension funds, insurance companies, funds-of-funds, endowments, and other institutional investors.  A smaller portion of the Firm’s investors also include family offices and high net worth individuals.

Geographically, Victoria Capital Partners’ investors are mainly from North America, Europe, and Asia, with a small portion from Latin America.

Why Victoria ?

When choosing a name for our firm we understand we should identify one that could truly reflect the culture and the mission of our organization as well as the special characteristics of the region in which we operate. In addition, since we are part of a globalized industry, we needed to have an easy name to pronounce in many languages. This was an essential part of our search for a brand that can identify our firm.

Victoria was the name of the only ship that completed the first circumnavigation expedition between 1519 and 1522. On August 10, 1519 five ships; Trinidad, San Antonio, Concepción, Victoria and Santiago set sail under the command of Ferdinand Magellan ( Fernando de Magallanes/Hernando de Magallanes/Fernão de Magalhães). On September 6, 1522 the remaining crew of Magellan’s voyage arrived in Spain aboard the only surviving vessel, Victoria, almost three years after their departure. During the course of this expedition Magellan anchored near present-day Rio de Janeiro to resupply the fleet, sailed south to Rio de la Plata and finally established the first settlement in Puerto San Julian in southern Argentina, where they decided to spend the rough winter getting ready for the next phase of their trip. While in Puerto San Julián, they interacted with the native population, which they named Patagones (from the Spanish word “pata” which means the leg of an animal) because they appeared to have large feet, when in fact they just wore shoes made of animal skin that left large footprints. This is the origin of the name of today’s Patagonia region, the southern part of Latin America.

After the winter Magellan continued with his expedition sailing through a passage that he called Estrecho de Todos los Santos as his fleet travelled through it on November 1, 1520 or All Saints’ Day. That strait is now called Strait of Magellan. On November 28 the fleet entered the South Pacific, Magellan named the Águas de Mar Pacífico (Pacific Ocean Waters) because of its apparent stillness. After this the fleet sailed northwest reaching Guam, the Philippines and Brunei. Later the expedition sailed west through the Indian Ocean and finally rounded the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa on May 6, 1522. From there, the Victoria sailed all the way back to Spain.

So, Victoria represents the successful journey through the emerging markets of South America that we constantly undertake. Similar to Magellan, we expect to bring capital from the developed world, invest it in the fast growing markets of South America and return it safely and profitably back to our investors. Magellan’s crew, especially the one from Victoria, symbolizes the triumph of careful preparation, perseverance, discipline, a clear sense of mission and a relentless focus of solving the problems and capturing the opportunities that the expedition presents. Most importantly, Magellan’s obsession with accomplishing the mission established by his King reflects our irrevocable commitment with our investors and partners to achieve superior returns by managing their capital with the highest professional and ethical standards of the industry.

Facts about Magellan’s Circumnavigation Expedition

Ferdinand Magellan

– Ferdinand Magellan was born in Sabrosa, Portugal in 1480. He later obtained the Spanish Nationality in order to serve King Charles I of Spain.

– He was commissioned by King Charles I to search the westward route to the Spice Islands (modern Maluku Islands in Indonesia).

– Magellan captained the first circumnavigation (1519-1522) and became the first expedition to sail from the Atlantic Ocean into the Pacific Ocean.

– He died during the journey in Cebu, Philippines at age 41.

The Victoria

The Victoria was named after the Church of Santa Maria de la Victoria de Triana, where Magellan took an oath of allegiance to Charles I.
Victoria was 85 tons and carried a crew of 43. It returned to Spain with 18 survivors.

Magellan’s Contract

In order to motivate Magellan to undertake the expedition King Charles I established one of the oldest Partnership Agreements in the region granting:

I)- Monopoly of the discovered route for a period of ten years.
II)- 20% of the gains of the travel.
III)- Their appointments as governors of the lands and islands found, with 5% of the resulting gains.
IV)- The right to levy one thousand ducats on the upcoming trips.
V)- Granting of an island for each one, apart from the six richest, from which they would receive a fifteenth.