Beka Finance
 | |
| Company type | Financial institution |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial investments |
| Founded | 1989 |
| Headquarters | Madrid, Spain |
Key people |
|
| AUM | €25.5bn |
Number of employees | 200+ |
| Website | www.bekafinance.com |
Beka Finance is a Spanish financial services company, created in 1989 as a subsidiary of Caja Madrid (which subsequently became Bankia). Beka Finance specializes in providing and developing financial products and services, asset management, financial advisory, investment banking and direct investment.[1]
Background and transactions[edit]
In 2013, the company was acquired by the Catalan investor group GVC Gaesco,[2] which subsequently sold the company to Gala Capital in 2020.[3]
The firm is primarily owned by its management team. The chairman is investment banker and entrepreneur Carlos Tejera, formerly a consultant at McKinsey & Company and chairman of Gala Capital. Carlos Stilianopoulos, CEO of Beka Finance, was previously president of Wholesale Banking and CFO at Bankia.
Since 2020, Beka Finance has undertaken a series of international financial transactions. In 2020, bought the Portuguese loan securitization company Sagres, which had over €6.5bn under management and was previously owned by Citigroup.[4] That year, Beka also raised €60m for its social impact fund Cuanimen.[5]
In 2021, launched the €300m Beka & Bolschare Iberian Agribusiness Fund to invest in sustainable agriculture;[6] it also created Beka Credit, a new €2.3bn lending platform.[7]
In 2022, Beka acquired the securitization fund manager Haya Titulización from US fund Cerberus,[8] with €23.2bn worth of assets under management, and agreed to buy Trea, an independent asset management firm in Spain with over €6bn under management.[9]
The firm has invested in several FinTechs: Rebellion Pay,[10] a payment service provider, and Hey Trade, an online broker. The company is also a large financial investor of Spanish musicals producer, SOM Produce,[11] founded by musical producer José Maria Cámara, and of Secuoya Grupo de Comunicación, which manages audio-visual production for Netflix in Spain.[1]
Controversies[edit]
In 2014, FCC suspended a liquidity contract with Beka Finance, coinciding with the announcement that investor George Soros was taking a stake in FCC.[12] Some media outlets have also reported that George Soros used Gala Capital, a significant shareholder in Beka Finance, as an investment vehicle to participate in the Spanish market.[13]
In April 2021, Beka hired most of the M&A team from BNP Paribas to launch its own M&A division.[14]
In 2021, Beka appointed former Spanish Agriculture Minister and European Commissioner for Energy and Climate Action Miguel Arias Cañete to its Board.[15] To accept the role, Arias Cañete was required to request approval under Article 11 of the Code of Conduct for members of the European Commission.[16]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Mendieta, Miguel Moreno (2022-11-16). "Beka Finance: el nuevo jugador financiero que quiere doblar su negocio en fondos de inversión". Cinco Días (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-05-09.
- ^ lainformacion.com (2013-09-17). "La sociedad de valores GVC Gaesco ultima la adquisición de Bankia Bolsa". La Información (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-05-09.
- ^ "GVC Gaesco sells half of Beka Finance to Gala Capital". InternationalInvestment. 2019-04-04. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
- ^ "Beka Finance já é a única detentora da sociedade de titularização de créditos Sagres". www.jornaldenegocios.pt (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-05-09.
- ^ "Beka levanta 60 millones para su fondo Cuanimen - Capital-Riesgo.es". capital-riesgo.es. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
- ^ "Beka Finance y Bolschare realizan el primer cierre de su fondo de 'agrobusiness'". Europa Press. 2021-09-24. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
- ^ "Beka Finance ficha un nuevo equipo para su área de deuda privada". El Español (in Spanish). 2021-12-10. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
- ^ "Beka Finance Acquires Haya's Debt Issuer From Cerberus - Brainsre news España". Retrieved 2023-05-09.
- ^ Vidal, Desiré (2022-07-13). "A&R steers Beka Finance´s acquisition of Trea AM". Legal Dealmaker. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
- ^ Digital, Confidencial (2021-03-24). "Rebellion se convierte en miembro principal de Mastercard y asienta su liderazgo en España". Confidencial Digital (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-05-09.
- ^ "SOM Produce, participada del área de Private Equity de Beka Asset Management, lanza la primera escuela de musicales en España, SOM Academy - Capital-Riesgo.es". capital-riesgo.es. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
- ^ S.A, Web Financial Group. "FCC suspende temporalmente su contrato de liquidez con Beka Finance". Bolsamania.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-05-09.
- ^ "Gala Capital, el brazo inversor de Soros en España - Expansión.com". www.expansion.com. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
- ^ Marco, Agustín (2021-04-06). "Beka Finance da el golpe al fichar al equipo de banca de inversión de BNP Paribas". elconfidencial.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-05-09.
- ^ "Beka ficha a Arias Cañete para lanzar un fondo de agricultura". EXPANSION (in Spanish). 2021-09-12. Retrieved 2023-05-11.
- ^ "Code of Conduct for the Members of the European Commission". commission.europa.eu. Retrieved 2023-05-09.