Managing Director
For more than twenty years, Franz Lara has executed M&A transactions all across Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico. He has become one of the most influential investment bankers in the region, with unparalleled experience and reputation in the M&A practice. He accumulates more than US$3.8 billion in volume through a vast number of transactions in industries like retail, cement and construction materials, financial institutions, agro-industry, telecom and consumer finance, among others.
Franz began his professional career as a civil engineer with EDICA Ltda., one of the leading construction companies in Costa Rica. Then, he joined a regional financial advisory firm where he led the M&A division for several years. As a Managing Director of Capital, Franz directed the sale process of Grupo Cuscatlán to Citigroup, a transaction valued at over $1,500 million. He also actively participated in the acquisition of Courts plc operations in the Caribbean by Regal Forest Holding, a transaction valued at over $400 million. Additionally, Franz has participated in a series of M&A processes in many industries all across the region.
Franz serves as external Director on the Boards of several Central American corporations including Alsicorp, one of the leading retailers in the Central American region, which operates stores and brands like Simán Department Stores, Zara, Berksha, Pull & Bear and Prisma Moda, Grupo Tical Holding, the leading regional logistics operator, Grupo Tecun Inc., one of the leading construction machinery and car dealerships in the region, representing brands like Case, Doosan and Mazda, and Prime, S.A., a Real Estate Investment Bank for Central America. He has a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from the Universidad de Costa Rica and obtained his MBA from INCAE Business School, earning the distinction of Valedictorian. Franz remains actively engaged with his alma mater as a member of the INCAE National Committee for Costa Rica.
