Private equity group Waterland is establishing a foothold in Spain with the opening of a new office in Barcelona. The new office is the firm’s 12th and brings its European direct presence to a total of 10 countries (Netherlands, Belgium, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Ireland, France, Poland and, now Spain).

David Torralba joins Waterland as Principal and Head of Spain. Torralba has almost 20 years’ experience in the financial services and private equity sectors, having worked at firms such as J.P. Morgan, Doughty Hanson and Meridia Capital. In parallel with Torralba, Guillermo Galmés joins Waterland as Senior Investment Manager. Galmés accumulates 15 years’ experience in the financial and private equity sectors in companies such as Morgan Stanley, Mercapital, Magnum Capital and Meridia Capital.

Founded in 1999, Waterland is a pan-European independent private equity firm which partners up with entrepreneurs and business owners to support mid-sized companies in consolidating fragmented markets, having achieved a best-in-class long-term track record within the European private equity space. Waterland is consistently placed among the Top 5 in the global HEC/Dow Jones ranking and ranks as eighth best fund manager in the world in the 2020 Preqin Consistent Performers in Global Private Equity & Venture Capital Report.

Throughout its more than 20 years of history, Waterland has invested in over 800 companies through nine funds. It currently has €9 billion of assets under management. Specifically, in Spain, in the last couple of years it has successfully completed a series of acquisitions via its existing portfolio companies, including Coreti (acquired by Asteria), Masvoz (Enreach), and Bynsa (United Petfood).

According to David Torralba, “Waterland’s distinct investment focus on buy-and-build and contrasted experience in delivering growth represent an excellent opportunity to support Spanish entrepreneurs with their expansion ambitions. I look forward to being able to offer Spanish business owners Waterland’s targeted support as business partners”.

Dr. Carsten Rahlfs, Managing Partner at Waterland Private Equity, noted, “We are delighted to welcome David and Guillermo to the team. Spain constitutes a compelling opportunity for Waterland to offer local entrepreneurs its extensive European network, differential skillset in accelerating growth via buy-and-build, and hands-on operational support”.