About us
About Us
About us
Introduction
Matter Capital objective is to acquire and manage a robust business in Portugal with a long term perspective.
Our mission is to ensure the future profitable growth and henceforth the legacy of a Portuguese medium-small business with a solid track record of growth, serving the business customers, employees, partners, and the broader community.
This implies stablishing a solid trust relationship with the current owner / founder, meaning we trust the business and its culture is adequate for our long term growth ambition and the owner trusts we will keep his legacy as a condition to pivot that ambition.
We are a group of local and international entrepreneurs, operators and investors focused on value creation and long term growth of medium-small businesses.
Model in Perspective
Matter Capital is not a private equity neither a strategic buyer.
Our principal, together with the support of our diversified group of investors focused on medium-small businesses, will be fully dedicated to the daily management of the business to deliver our long term growth agenda.
Private Equity
Strategic Buyer
Owner’s position
Flexibility to accommodate owner’s needs
Imposed decision to stay or leave
Imposed decision to stay or leave
Focus on the company
Unique focus and exclusive dedication
One of many in the fund’s portfolio
One division of the conglomerate
Employee’s future
Critical for the business operation
Downsizing and outsourcing risk
Downsizing and outsourcing risk
Value Creation
Sustainable top-line growth focus
Financial engineering and margin improvement focus
Capture of synergies and operational efficiency
Vehicle structure
Not an investment fund
Fund
Uncertain
Number of acquisitions
Only one
Multiple, dependent on fund size and strategy
Multiple, dependent on strategy and budget
Principal involvement
Full dedication with daily management
Board level involvement
One of multiple corporate divisions
Time horizon
Long-term horizon with no exit deadline
Limited to the life of the fund
Uncertain
Source of capital
Close group of active diversified investors
Large institutional investors with limited involvement
Conglomerate’s shareholders
Model in Perspective
Matter Capital is not a private equity neither a strategic buyer.
Our principal, together with the support of our diversified group of investors focused on medium-small businesses, will be fully dedicated to the daily management of the business to deliver our long term growth agenda.
Values
Our ambition is to maximize the full potential of the business and to preserve the legacy of the current owner / founder. We are committed to the long term and to value creation. We believe in doing the right thing, with no shortcuts and taking the longer route. We are passionate about developing people and expand business activity.
Long-term
focused on profitable growth in the long run and on a value creation agenda
Proficiency
concentrated pool of actionable expertise from world-class entrepreneurs, operators and investors, with a solid track record of medium-small businesses supported
Dedication
our principal exclusively dedicated to the daily management of the business, balancing his +15-years of exposure to different industries and geographies
Transparency
clearly defined procedure to valid alignment and mutual benefits, underpinning a required lasting trust relationship
Accountability
committed to bullet-proof the future of the business, nurturing current customers, employees and remaining stakeholders
Flexibility
capacity to accommodate current owner and business specific’ needs to set the conditions for long term growth and henceforth legacy protection
Approach
Approach
Investment Criteria
We are looking for a Portuguese-based medium-small business with satisfied customers and a great culture, with a solid track record of profitable growth.
We believe businesses suited for long term growth share fundamental attributes that we summarized below:
Industry Overview
- High organic growth potential (at >2x GDP) with favourable tailwinds
- Fragmented market
- Tradable goods or services
- Non-commoditized product or service offering
- Highly competitive barriers
- Limited exposure to government and regulatory risk
- Low threat of external shocks e.g., tech obsolescence, environment
Company Profile
- Proven business model
- Low technical complexity
- Recurring revenue model
- High exposition to international demand
- Low customer concentration and churn
- History of constant and profitable growth
- Proven cash flow generation
Financial Considerations
- Recurring and contractual revenue streams
- Annual EBITDA >€1M
- EBITDA margin >10%-15% depending on the industry
- Cash flow >0 for 3-years
- Low ongoing capital expenditure needs
- Low cyclicality
Ownership Context
- Private and concentrated ownership
- Motivated owner(s) to hand-over control of the company
- No succession plan in-place
- Honest, respected owner(s) with values aligned with ours
- Solid middle management
- Positive company culture and strong values
Process
For the transaction to occur, we follow a procedure based on the outlined-values that quickly validates mutual fit, facilitates a shared vision for the future of the business and allows specific needs to be factored-in – by doing so, it underpins the required mutual trust.
As an indicative range, similar operations tend to last from four and six months in total.
Initial conversation
introductory meeting to further understand about the business and its current owner / founder, as well as to share Matter Capital investment approach
Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) signature: agreement of confidentiality about information shared
Analysis of the opportunity
Preliminary understanding of the business based on data shared, clarification of initial questions about the business and its sector, and discussion of growth drivers for the business
Non-binding offer: indicative valuation value of the business based on first data shared and first discussions
Letter of Intent (LOI) signature: commitment of the owner and ourselves to realize the transaction
Due diligence
Construction of a detailed view of the business, clarification of questions about the company and its sector, and validation of main hypotheses of a long term growth plan for the business
Binding offer: final valuation value of the business based on due diligence results
Deal closure
Signature of required documentation, transfer of capital in the agreed terms and run the agreed transition plan
Initial conversation
introductory meeting to further understand about the business and its current owner / founder, as well as to share Matter Capital investment approach
Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) signature: agreement of confidentiality about information shared
Analysis of the opportunity
Preliminary understanding of the business based on data shared, clarification of initial questions about the business and its sector, and discussion of growth drivers for the business
Non-binding offer: indicative valuation value of the business based on first data shared and first discussions
Letter of Intent (LOI) signature: ccommitment of the owner and ourselves to realize the transaction
Due diligence
Construction of a detailed view of the business, clarification of questions about the company and its sector, and validation of main hypotheses of a long term growth plan for the business
Binding offer: final valuation value of the business based on due diligence results
Deal closure
Signature of required documentation, transfer of capital in the agreed terms and run the agreed transition plan
Business cases
Across our diversified group of investors, some entrepreneurs have taken similar journeys to the one we are embracing. By selectively acquiring and managing businesses with a long-term growth agenda, they bullet-proofed the future of each business, ensured the legacy of the previous owner / founder, and delivered outstanding results to their investors.
As illustrative examples, we share three cases broadly following a similar model of ours.
Repli
- Name: Repli [anchor acquisition] and Pentapackaging
- Country: Spain and Italy
- Industry: distribution of industrial containers
- Year acquired: 2014 and 2018
- Growth drivers: (i) expanded customer base, (ii) added new product ranges, (iii) expanded geographically, and (iv) improved operations efficiency
- Result: the organization become the largest distributor of industrial containers in Southern Europe
Funa
- Name: Funa Nachrichtentechnik [anchor acquisition]
- Country: Germany
- Industry: design, engineering, and integration services
- Year acquired: 2004
- Growth drivers: (i) expanded new customer segments, (ii) expanded geographically, and (iii) buy-and-build strategy
- Result: end-to-end technical and engineering capabilities to cover all integration needs, becoming a market reference in the maritime business
Lotus Education
- Name: Universidade Tres Culturas [under the umbrella of Lotus Education]
- Country: Mexico
- Industry: higher education
- Year acquired: 2015
- Growth drivers: (i) portfolio product increase, (ii) geographic expansion across Mexico, (iii) new sales and marketing strategy, and (iv) operations improvement e.g., weekend and evening shifts
- Result: the business expanded considerably the number of campus and total student population, actively contributing to the consolidation of the higher education industry in Mexico
Team
Team
Our Principal
Pedro Carvalhas Coutinho is the founder and managing director of Matter Capital. Born and raised in Lisbon, Portugal – with family roots in the north of the country, he developed an international mind-set having been based in London, Sao Paulo and Chicago, plus long-term assignments across Europe and Africa, before returning to Portugal in 2017.
The Principal brings more than 15-years of management consulting experience across different geographies and industries, having supportted his clients in growth strategy challenges and their transactions’ efforts. He has served mainly in financial services and transportation, plus in private equity, healthcare, pharma, diversified industrials, retail and education. Between 2017 and 2021, he participated in the launch of a new strategy advisory office in Portugal, with full business oversight responsibilities across work delivery, business development and practice expansion.
Pedro is enthusiastic about chasing ambitious challenges with liked-values-minded people and witnessing the growth of the people around him. He is obsessed with integrity and transparency – no shortcuts in life, taking the longer round – and a permanent learning attitude. Less is more. Married with two children.
Bsc. in Economics from Nova SBE in Lisbon and MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Our Investors
Andrew Locke
Angel Alvarez
António Bernardo
Daniel Perthes
Enrico Arietti
Felipe Ruiz López
Horacio Ramirez
Ignacio Olavarría
Jan Woitschätzke
José Antonio Larraz
José Maria Clotet
José Martin Cabiedes
Niel Wyma
Nicolas Rudzki
