Carlyle Crew Eyes Mexico CCD

EMX Capital, the private equity firm responsible for the Carlyle Group’s Mexican activities, has registered for a CCD transaction in Mexico’s domestic market. The deal will raise funds for a private equity fund able to make a broad range of investments in Mexico, according to regulatory documents. It will be similar to CCDs completed recently by Atlas Discovery capital and Nexxus. Over a 5-year period, the fund expects to make 8-10 investments at MXP150m-MXP500m each. The 2020 transaction features a remuneration structure similar to the previous Mexican CCD transactions, based on a return on the investment, plus a 10% preferred return. If similar in size to other private equity CCDs, it would raise MXP1bn-MXP2bn. Deutsche Bank is managing the deal. EMX, led by Joaquin Avila, spun off from Carlyle last year, and continues to manage Carlyle’s Carlyle Mexico fund. More than 20 CCDs are in the pipeline, with those linked to private equity funds appearing thus far to move more quickly to the front of the queue than those linked to infrastructure or other business projects. However, as Mexico’s pension funds get used to the asset class, all CCDs are encountering wait times of several months between filing and closing. Nexxus’ 2020 MXP1.46bn transaction was the most recent to close.