Investee company name:
Sector:
Country of origin:
Region:
Aureos fund:
Total invested:
Date invested:
Investment type:
Cash multiple:
Internal rate of return:
Grupo Difoto
Imaging technology
Guatemala
Central America
Aureos Central America Fund (ACAF)
US$5 million
March 2004
Growth Finance
1.83
40%
Difoto Group (www.grupo-difoto.com) sells and distributes photographic supplies, equipment for graphic arts, and imaging equipment for the business and medical sectors.
Founded in Guatemala, where it was the exclusive distributor of Kodak products, the company has now expanded into El Salvador, Panama and Costa Rica.
In March 2004 Aureos Central America Fund (ACAF) invested US$5 million to buy a significant minority stake in Grupo Difoto and support an acquisition strategy that took it into Panama and Costa Rica. Difoto was able to acquire Xerox’s operations in Central America and become the leading provider of imaging services in the region. As well as Xerox and Kodak, it now represents leading brands such as Cisco Systems and Hewlett Packard.
In February 2006, ACAF exited from Difoto at a valuation of 1.83 times the initial investment (US$9.15 million), achieving an internal rate of return (IRR) of 40% for the fund in less than two years. The Difoto exit was named 'Exit of the Month’ by the Latin America Venture Capital Association in April 2006.
Aureos chief executive Sev Vettivetpillai says: "Trade agreements between the US and Latin America are giving companies more opportunities to expand and achieve cross-border strategic tie-ups. As a result of this increased activity profit timelines are being accelerated for us, allowing us to exit sooner than we had anticipated."