(Press Release) International Finance Corporation (IFC) agreed to invest up to US$10m in LAFISE’s fund, CASEIF III LP.

LAFISE and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of World Bank Group, signed a Subscription Agreement with the latter committing to invest up to USD 10 million in CASEIF III LP, a private equity fund managed by LAFISE Group. The agreement was signed by Mr. Roberto Zamora Llanes, President of LAFISE Group and Mrs. Maria Kozloski, Global Head & CIO Private Equity Funds of IFC. Through this agreement, the IFC is the newest investor in CASEIF III LP.

CASEIF III LP´s mission is to finance small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) facing rapid stages of growth. The fund sets the following three parameters for its target SME companies: (i) annual sales above US$3 million and below US$ 25 million, (ii) total assets no higher than US$ 25 million and (iii) less than 500 employees. CASEIF III LP invests between US$ 2 to US$ 7.5 million per company, mainly in instruments of quasi-equity, and has a multisectoral scope except for certain restricted areas.

“As managers of CASEIF III LP, we are encouraged by this equity investment of IFC, this is a recognition in LAFISE due to its credibility, integrity and transparent handling in the management of private equity funds as well as the impact that these CASEIF´s Funds have had in the region through the growth and consolidation of its SMEs companies” said Mr. Erick Lagos, Managing Director of Lafise Investment Management (LIM).

CASEIF III LP is a private equity fund of up to USD 60 million constituted in August 14, 2014 and as an alternative of financing to SMEs in Central America, Panama, Dominican Republic and Colombia. Since 2000, LAFISE has been the manager of CASEIF and CASEIF II, and has executed more than 26 investments in the region in different industrial sectors such as food processing, software, logistics, education, tourism, manufacturing, health, renewable energy, among others. Beyond only proving financing, CASEIF III LP will also share its expertise and advise entrepreneurs and SMEs on best practices. The fund will encourage transparency and good corporate governance as means to improve SME competitiveness and sustainability.

The Investors in CASEIF III L. P. are institutional and private investors of Europe and America, including the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries, NORFUND; the Andean Development Corporation, CAF; Impact Investing Focus SME L.P. and SIFEM AG, both of them through their manager OBVIAM AG; Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden N.V. (FMO); LAFISE Group; and now through this agreement, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), member of World Bank Group. All investors share the mission to promote development through investment in profitable companies.