Sovereign wealth funds seek out Spanish companies with a strong presence in Latin America

This morning, ICEX–Invest in Spain, ESADEgeo and KPMG presented the 2013 Sovereign Wealth Fund Report, which describes the investment strategies followed by SWFs as well as their complex relationships with Spanish companies. The event featured the participation of Jaime García-Legaz, Spanish Secretary of State for Trade; Alfons Sauquet, Dean of ESADE Business School; Fernando García-Ferrer, Partner Responsible for Markets and Private Equity at KPMG Spain; and other important figures.

The report reveals that Spain is, and is likely to remain, one of the main countries of interest for SWFs in Europe. In the new report, ESADEgeo Vice President Javier Santiso writes: "Without a doubt, in 2013 and 2014 we will see major changes in the shareholder structure of Spanish companies. We should not be surprised to see the participation of more SWFs than state-owned companies, as the recent entry of Temasek and IPIC in Iberian companies has demonstrated."

According to the 2013 Sovereign Wealth Fund Report, the Spanish companies most attractive to SWFs are those which have a strong presence in Latin America – a privileged position that has returned foreign investors’ appetite to pre-crisis levels. However, whereas in 2012 the biggest players in Spain were SWFs from Arab countries – such as Qatar Holdings and the Emirati fund IPIC – this year Singapore and China have shown a greater interest in the country for both financial and strategic reasons. Norway – home to the world’s largest SWF, with US$800 billion in assets – has continued to invest in Spain. This year, Spanish companies received a total of US$15 billion from the Norwegian fund, making Spain its eighth-largest investment recipient.

The report predicts that SWFs’ interest in cutting-edge sectors will continue to grow. It also finds that the funds primarily engage in three types of activities: 1) purely financial investments (as in the case of Telefónica, Amadeus and Indra), 2) strategic industrial alliances (Iberdrola and SENER), and, most importantly, 3) attempts to tap into the opportunity presented by the fact that Spain will be hosting the World Mobile Congress – the world’s largest event for the digital and telecommunications industry – for nearly another decade (2010-2020). Spain could also become a springboard for certain strategic funds – such as Khazanah and Mubadala – that have yet to establish European offices.

Read the full report: 2013 Sovereign Weath Fund Report.