Strategic View:
PAI Partners has sold Spanish grocery giant Uvesco to a local consortium including management, Kutxabank, Inveready, and Stellum. This club deal repatriates a strategic food asset to local ownership. It highlights the “Food Sovereignty” trend where regional banks and PE firms collaborate to buy back critical supply chains from global funds.
Full Story:
In a deal that resonates with the growing trend of “Food Sovereignty,” PAI Partners has agreed to sell Spanish grocery giant Uvesco back to a local consortium. The buyers are a unique mix: Uvesco’s CEO Angel Jareño, local bank Kutxabank (via Indar), and Basque private equity firms Inveready and Stellum.
This transaction is a textbook “Regional Club Deal.” After PAI Partners scaled the business nationally, the Basque consortium stepped in to repatriate the asset. For Kutxabank and the local PE firms, this is more than a financial return; it is a strategic investment in the regional food supply chain. The presence of the management team with significant equity (“skin in the game”) ensured the deal’s credibility and alignment of interests.
Moreover, the financing was bolstered by a €465 million debt package provided by Hayfin and Strategic Value Partners, adding a layer of private credit syndication to the equity club. This structure ensures Uvesco has patient, local capital to defend its market share against global giants like Carrefour, while maintaining its identity as a high-quality local grocer. The involvement of a regional bank like Kutxabank also provides the consortium with deep local knowledge and political goodwill.
Consequently, we are seeing a rise in these “Patriotic Club Deals,” where local capital pools band together to defend strategic industries. This model allows regional players to compete with global mega-funds by aggregating their balance sheets and leveraging their home-court advantage.
Why It Matters:
The “Local Champion” strategy is back. Regional banking and PE consortiums are teaming up to buy back strategic assets (food, infra) from global funds, driven by sovereignty narratives. It proves that local knowledge + syndicated capital can outbid global generalists.
Source(s):
PAI Partners Sells Uvesco to Basque-Led Institutional Investor Consortium
*Definitions:
*Skin in the Game: When management invests their own money into the deal alongside the PE firm.
*Sovereignty Narrative: The strategic priority of a nation or region to control its own critical resources (food, energy, tech).
