Carlos Cortina y Andrés Rebuelta lanzan su propia gestora de fondos

Carlos Cortina y Andrés Rebuelta, exdirectores de Peninsula Capital y Permira, han creado su propia gestora de capital riesgo, Coreda, para invertir en pequeñas y medianas empresas españolas. The firm, which has been named Coreda, will operate on a deal-by-deal basis, meaning a new vehicle will be launched for each investment. This model is gaining popularity as fund investors (Limited Partners or LPs) become more sophisticated and sometimes prefer knowing the companies they are allocating resources to before committing capital to a new fund based solely on the track record of their managers.

Cleon Capital and Nazca Capital, for example, already operate using this format, along with traditional buyout strategies like Nazca Capital's. Coreda plans to make both majority and minority investments, with ticket sizes between 15 and 40 million euros per deal. The goal is for the companies in which the firm invests to have an EBITDA of at least two to three million euros.

These are significantly smaller companies compared to the ones Cortina and Rebuelta were used to investing in at Peninsula and Permira. However, this segment can offer advantages over investing in larger companies as it can have equal or higher potential for revaluation in a niche market with much less competition. The anticipated investor base for Coreda's vehicles (LPs) will consist of a pool of family offices deciding which companies to invest in and which to avoid.

The strategy of funds dedicated to a single company is also much more flexible in terms of exit times compared to traditional private equity vehicles, which should not remain in investments for more than five to six years. Carlos Cortina, the son of former Repsol president Alfonso Cortina, has over a decade of experience in private equity, based in Madrid, London, and New York.

Before Peninsula Capital, he worked at Endesa and Mediobanca and holds a degree in Finance from Cunef and an MBA from Columbia Business School. Andrés Rebuelta, on the other hand, has worked at Permira for 12 years, becoming managing director in Madrid before also holding positions at Magnum Capital and starting his career at JPMorgan.

He holds a degree in Civil Engineering from the Technical University of Madrid and a law degree from the Complutense University.