Strategic Investors
Partners All the Way
Strategic partner for entrepreneurs, searchers, and family offices looking to take their businesses to the next level
What We Do
At Santa Marta, we understand that every company and every project has a unique story. That's why we don't just invest capital: we are strategic partners for those who aspire to achieve more. We provide experience, operational and strategic involvement, and an international vision to support our partners at every stage of growth.
Long-Term Capital Investments
We make strategic investments in SMBs, with a long-term vision focused on the sustainable expansion and consolidation of business legacies.
Search Fund Investors
We actively participate in search funds, supporting searchers throughout all stages of the process. We are involved as strategic partners, providing capital, expertise, and an .international support network.
Strategic Co-Investments
We work closely with family offices on strategic co-investments, combining resources, industry expertise, and a global vision to maximize the value and impact of each investment.
Value Added Partner
In both Majority and Minority Investments and Search Funds, our mission is to create value for our partners and forge strong and lasting relationships.
Operational Optimization
We understand business management firsthand - we have been in the operator's shoes. Our experience as SME operators and managers allows us to walk the walk alongside entrepreneurs, not just advise them from afar. This combination of investment and operational experience is our differentiating factor and the reason for Grupo Santa Marta's existence.
International Expansion
Our active presence in Spain and North America and extensive international network allow us to support companies in their expansion into new markets, providing not only capital but also experience and key contacts to accelerate their internationalization.
Institutional Relations
We facilitate access to bank financing, strategic co-investors, and industry alliances thanks to our strong network of relationships built in Europe, North America, and Latin America. We help strengthen your balance sheet and open new avenues for growth.
Partners in your Journey
Beyond capital, we are committed partners, focused on building long-term relationships based on trust, transparency, and joint value creation. In each project, we act as true partners, invested in the operational and strategic success of the companies in which we participate.
Search Fund Investors. Active Partners.
Handpicked Investments and True Commitment
Real Partnership and Active Thought Partners
Flexibility and Empathy
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We are not a fund of funds, and our focus is not on volume and diversification. We invest in a very small number of searchers with whom we share a personal affinity, strategic vision, and values.
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We are actively involved at every stage: from opportunity discovery and analysis to acquisition, development, and eventual exit. Our goal is to be the anchor or go-to partner, providing much more than capital: experience, judgment, and access to international co-investors.
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Mentorship and strategic support: We participate as sounding board members and board members, providing vision, rigor, and support in key decision-making, transaction structuring, due diligence, and negotiation.
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Equity gap coverage: We facilitate access to additional capital and international co-investors to close the equity gap in acquisitions and support future growth rounds.
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Driving sustainable growth: We seek companies with recurring revenue and scalability potential, supporting the new CEO in the professionalization, expansion, and consolidation of the business.
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Flexibility and alignment: We adapt our investment structure and time horizon to the needs of each searcher and each project, ensuring complete alignment of interests and a transparent and collaborative relationship.
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Our equity stakes range from 5% to majorities.
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Although we are based in Spain, we have a presence in the United States and actively invest in search funds and target companies in both Europe and North America. We understand the specificities of each market and provide a global vision with local execution.
Our Investment Criteria
We seek to acquire stakes in established companies with a significant market share in their sector, a management team motivated to grow and develop projects, and a track record of sustained and sustainable growth.
Market Leaders
We want to be the leading company in the niche markets in which we operate, demonstrating excellence and innovation.
EBITDA
€1M – €5M
A-Player Teams
We believe that a company's greatest asset is its team. We seek to empower existing managers to achieve their goals.
Excellent management team
Growing Sectors
We are interested in being a long-term partner, and we seek opportunities in industries with attractive growth projections.
Industries with strong tailwinds
Stability and Resilience
We look for resilient companies with a proven track record of success, stability, and financial strength.
Predictable and recurring revenue
Our Portfolio
SM Agro
We operate olive, almond, chickpea, and grain farms across the South of Spain, optimizing results through modernized technical management and an exceptional team.
Torrelaguna
We manage a diversified portfolio of properties across Spain, including short-term rentals, gas stations, urban lots, and commercial real estate.
Pentatel
Consulting and integration of AV technological projects. Specialized in the design and implementation of bespoke audio-visual solutions for the digital transformation of enterprises and institutions.
The Team
We are a management team with extensive experience and complementary skills, supported extensively by a network of excellent advisors.
Manolo Moreno
CEO
Manolo has extensive operational and financial experience, having led SMBs in various sectors, been a PE Operator, and worked in leading firms in the financial sector.
For more than a decade he has been an SMB CEO, successfully leading industrial, software, and real estate companies - in Spain and the United States. Manolo has worked as an Operating Executive for one of the leading Private Equity funds in the US.
Previously, he developed his career advising on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions in a renowned boutique in Madrid.
Manolo holds a degree in Business Administration and Management from CUNEF and an MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Santiago Prieto
Independent Advisor
Santiago has two decades of experience in M&A, having led more than 50 transactions in various sectors, with a special focus on industrial segments such as F&B, packaging, automotive, construction materials, engineering services, mobility, and healthcare, among others.
Santiago is a partner at the M&A firm Socios Corporate Finance. Previously, Santiago worked in TAS at Deloitte and in the private equity investment practice at Inveravante.
Since 2022, Santiago has also been an associate professor at the ISBIF business school.
He holds a postgraduate degree in banking and finance from the University of A Coruña, as well as a bachelor's degree in business administration and management.
Inmaculada Hernández
Chief of Staff and Financial Controller
Inmaculada combines several decades of professional experience, combining responsibility for the financial and organizational areas of multiple companies.
She has forged her professional career as a customer experience director in the hospitality sector, as well as in the role of financial and operational reporting and control systems manager for one of the most renowned nursing home operators in Spain.
Inmaculada completed her studies in Business Administration and Management at the University of Loyola, where she has consolidated a high-level academic profile that complements her vast practical experience.
