Team – Members
José María Castañé Ortega, Chairman
Industrial Engineer (ETSII, Barcelona, 1961), Masters in Mechanical Engineering (ISMCM, Paris, 1963), and Masters in Economic Development (SVIMEZ, Rome, 1964)
Between 1965 and 1980, founder and CEO of Metra-Seis, a company involved in providing economic advice and market studies (Madrid).
General Manager of Industrial Development and Technology, Ministry of Industry. General Manager of Bankunion and Chairman of Banca López Quesada.
Between 1980 and 1990, freelance professional in the private equity sector, handling 26 transactions.
Since 1990, investment manager of Pallas Invest S.A. (Luxembourg) in Spain and Portugal. Between 1994 and 2006, Director of Unión Española de Explosivos (Madrid) as well as non-executive Vice Chairman between 2001 and 2006.
At present, he chairs the Advisory Committee of ING Bank S.A. (Madrid), is Vice Chairman of the Board of Iberchem S.A. (Murcia). He is a member of the Advisory Committee of the law firm Uría Menéndez (Madrid). He is a member of the Board of Trustees and Standing Committee of the Prado Museum.
Renaud Rivain, Vice Chairman
Of French nationality, residing in Spain since 1998. Degree in Law (Faculté de Droit et des Sciences Economiques, Paris), Masters in Business Administration (IAE, Paris) and Masters in Corporate Law (Université de Paris II).
He has held various executive positions since 1974 with BNP in Paris, New York and Hong Kong. In 1982 he participated in the launching of the Pallas group, being Vice President until 1994.
He has been a Director of Dillon Read Ltd in London and Compagnie Financière Tradition in Lausanne. In 1994, he became Managing Director of Pallas Invest S.A. (private equity investor in Europe, U.S.A. and China). Between 2001 and 2006, he was a Director of Unión Española de Explosivos S.A. (Madrid). At present, he chairs the Board of Directors of Iberchem S.A. (Murcia) and is a Director of Tata Enterprises (Overseas) AG (Zug).
Eduardo Fernández-Combarro Cortijo, Manager
Degree in Law and Economics (ICADE, Madrid), postgraduate studies in Finance (University of Birmingham, UK). Trainee investment analyst in UI-Crédit Agricole (Paris).
Since 1989, he has worked in the private equity sector in Spain and has advised Pallas Invest S.A., Luxembourg, amongst others (member of its Board of Directors between 1998 and 2002), Director of Argo Capital Invest S.A. (Madrid) (advisor of the Pallas Invest Iberian Fund); Director, amongst others, of Flamegate B.V. (Dutch investment company), VSS S.A. (Barcelona) (security services), and Ibérica de Centros Comerciales S.A. (Madrid) (shopping centre development).
At present, he is a member of the Board of Directors of Iberchem S.A. (Murcia).
José Antonio Larraz Solans, Manager
Degree in Law and Economics (ICADE, Madrid) and MBA in INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France). Mr Larraz worked for Lehman Brothers between 1997 and 2002, holding various posts in the Investment Banking divisions of London, New York and Madrid.
During this time, he participated in various transactions, including M&A, capital placements and fixed income projects (shareholding restructuring of Telepizza, merger between Huarte and Obrascón, merger between Ebro Agrícolas and Azucarera Española, sale of Torraspapel by KIO to CVC, capital placement for CoBank, amongst others).
He joined Capital Alianza’s team in 2002. He is a Director of Iberchem, S.A. (Murcia).
Ernesto Ferrer-Bonsoms, Analyst
Degrees in Law and Business Management and Administration (Universidad Autónoma, Madrid). Mr Ferrer-Bonsoms spent one and a half year at ONOtoONE Capital Partners in London and has recently started working as investment analyst in the Capital Alianza's team.
He helps the investment team on multiple fronts, among others with investment opportunity identification, sector and company analysis and company valuation.
Alfonso Rivas de la Calle, Financial/Administrative Manager
Degree in Economics (Pacific Western University, Los Angeles (U.S.A.)). He has several Masters and other qualifications in auditing, accounting, financial analysis and management, tax and labour law (Garrigues Andersen and Centro de Estudios Técnicos Empresariales (ESINE), Madrid).
Between 1966 and June 2001 he worked in the Spanish subsidiary of IMS Health, as Financial Manager since 1981 and as a member of the Board of Directors since 1991. He has also worked as a freelance consultant and financial/tax advisor for a reduced number of clients.
Artur Zakrzewski, Executive Assistant
After completing his secondary education and university qualifications in health studies in Warsaw, he moved to Madrid in 1989. Since then, he has worked in Pallas Invest Ibérica (Madrid) and now Capital Alianza, becoming its IT specialist.
He speaks four languages fluently and is in charge of the office management, data processing, management and search for information, and the drawing up of reporting and analysis documents.