Vector Capital hires Xalta founders to lead new corporate finance business

In March 2024, Vector Capital entered the corporate finance business by acquiring the operations of Xalta, a firm specialized in financial advisory and mergers and acquisitions (M&A), founded by Joan Dagá and David Becerra.

Dagá had previous experience at Bansud Capital and assumed the direction of Vector Capital’s new business unit in March, while Becerra, with steps at EY and KPMG, became vice president.

Both executives founded Xalta in 2022, a company that closed transactions that exceeded US$30 million, according to the executives.

From Vector Capital they stated that the combination of experience in consulting and the history of having founded their own company were key factors for both executives to lead the division, which will focus on mandates for medium-sized companies, with transactions of between US$ 5 million and US $15 million.

Becerra explained to D.F. that the focus on this segment of companies is due to the fact that it is a highly innovative sector and has not yet been fully covered by the corporate finance areas of Chilean investment banking.

“Currently, this is the period with the highest number of SMEs in Chile, and a large proportion of them are family businesses, which have high sales parameters, but which still lack greater professionalization. So that is where we saw a market failure,” said the executive.

The division already has five mandates in process that total more than US$50 million in transactions. These include businesses in agrotechIT, including software and Artificial Intelligence, as well as construction.

Scalex Business

The new division of Vector Capital also aspires to enter the Scalex business (alternative market of the Santiago Stock Exchange).

“We want to start participating more actively in Scalex, which is a market that we believe is going to be great in the industry, not only for the startupsbut also for pension funds, which are investing in these types of assets,” said Dagá.