ALZA Capital Partners
At a Glance
Worth a call for a searcher outside the United States who wants a backer with a portfolio that spans several markets.
- Pricing
- Custom Pricing, Investment terms, not fees. Two interviews republished on its own site, from 2019 and 2021, give a 50 million dollar fund and acquisition tickets of 1 to 4 million dollars, with its pro-rata amount and often part of the equity gap; nothing on the current about or approach pages restates them.
- Best For
- A searcher who wants a backer with a large, dated portfolio across Latin America and Europe rather than one market.
- Track Record
- Sixty-seven operating companies by its portfolio counter, sixty-five cards, across thirteen countries and nine industries, with more than five hundred million dollars of combined annual revenue. Launched in 2018 by two partners after their own search fund bought a Mexican university in 2015 and sold it in 2018, and by a 2021 interview more than fifty searchers backed by then.
- Lane
- Traditional
- Funds
- The search phase and the deal
- In the Round
- Says it leads or anchors, so it is a call to make early.
- Based
- Monterrey and Madrid.
- Invests
- Thirteen countries on its own count, among them Brazil, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. A 2019 interview says at least two thirds of the fund goes to Mexico, Spain and the United States and the rest opportunistically to Latin America and Europe.
- Buys
- Companies with an EBITDA margin above 15%, preferably business-to-business, with minimal regulatory exposure, stable recurring revenue and low capital intensity, by its approach page; no size band published.
- Before A First Call
- The profile its approach page says it invests strictly within: relevant professional experience in operations, consulting, M&A or private equity, a strong track record with managing experience, a top-university degree with a top-tier MBA or MSc as ideal, a team of two as ideal. Flexibility to relocate. Its 2019 interview adds conviction in the model, a big opportunity cost and a first-class investor group.
- First-Time Operators
- No prior-search or prior-ownership bar anywhere. Its approach page does publish a profile it says it invests strictly within. The profile asks for relevant professional experience in operations, consulting, M&A or private equity, and a strong track record with managing experience. It asks for a bachelor's degree from a top university, with an MBA or MSc from a top-tier school as ideal, a team of two as ideal, and flexibility to relocate. That is a bar on career, not on having run a company before.
- How Long The Search Runs
- No length on the search and nothing about what happens if it ends without a deal, on the pages this review read. Ask what the clock is before you sign anything.
- Published Terms
- A 50 million dollar fund of search funds by its own 2019 and 2021 interviews, deploying tickets of 1 to 4 million dollars at the acquisition with capacity reserved for follow-ons. Searchers can expect its pro-rata amount and, in many cases, a portion of the equity gap.
- What A Searcher Gets
- Not published on the pages this review read. It is the figure a searcher most wants and most of this shelf does not print it, so ask before the first call rather than after.
- After The Close
- Names a clear 100-day plan, a solid board, a planned transition and filling talent gaps as how a new CEO creates value.
- Roadmap Stages
- 3. Set Up & Fund the Search
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Counts its operating companies, countries, industries, revenue and employees on one page
- Dates every company in the portfolio and gives many of them their own links
- Its founders ran a search fund themselves before raising this one, and the page says so; its approach page publishes the searcher profile it invests within
Cons
- No current term sheet; the fund size and ticket it has published are in interviews dated 2019 and 2021
- The portfolio mixes operating companies with search funds without saying how many of each
- Its investors link opens a login modal on every page, though every page behind the nav is readable
What Searchers Say
One of the larger Latin American search backers by its own count, and the numbers here are the ones its portfolio page publishes.
How to Approach
Firms do not publish a term sheet you can prepare against, so this is how traditional (investor-backed) search capital comes in, what it weighs, and how to arrive ready.
The Typical Arc
- A first conversation on your background and why search, before any deal.
- A deep dive on your plan: industries, criteria, and how you will source.
- Backing for the search itself, then a fresh underwrite when you bring a live deal.
- A board seat and governance once you close.
What It Weighs
- Whether you will finish a two-year search, not only start one.
- The quality of your thesis and target criteria.
- How you will behave on a cap table over a long hold.
How to Prepare
- Bring a sourcing thesis, not a blank slate. Buyer Profile Builder
- Know which firms lead versus follow, and on what terms. Investors
- Make your operator case on one page. Buyer Profile Builder