Pedro Batalla

Managing Director

Pedro Batalla is Managing Director specialized in investment advisory and M&A. Pedro has over 25 years of experience in Latin American infrastructure finance, including with the International Finance Corporation (1990-1998); as an MD at Darby Investments (now a Franklin Templeton company) (1998-2007); and as a partner at Santander Infrastructure Fund II L.P. (2007-2010).

At Santander, Pedro was member of the management team responsible for raising a € 1.5 bn infrastructure fund focused on Europe and Latin America. The team invested € 500 million in four companies including Aguas Nuevas, Chile’s third largest water utility. Pedro sourced and directed the fund’s investment in Aguas Nuevas S.A., the third largest water utility in Chile; he then acted as CEO of the company for two years and led its successful sale. At Darby, Pedro was co-manager of a $195 million fund, fully invested in a broadly diversified portfolio of minority equity positions and mezzanine loans with exposure to Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina -- the great majority of which in the infrastructure sector (including ports, electricity generation, gas pipelines, waste and wastewater). The fund has now exited all its investments except one and is set to achieve a very successful IRR. At the IFC, Pedro was regional manager for Mexico, based in Mexico City (1997-1998); regional representative for Argentina and Chile, based in Buenos Aires (1992-1997); and Investment Officer for Venezuela and Colombia (1990-1992). As such, he played a senior role in most of the transactions that IFC financed in Argentina, Chile and Mexico in the above mentioned periods, with a special focus on electricity generation, transmission and distribution, gas pipelines, toll roads, railroads and port terminals.

Pedro earned an MBA from IESE (Barcelona, Spain) and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from E.T.S. de Ingenieros Industriales, University of Navarra, San Sebastián, Spain. Pedro is fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Catalan, and proficient in French.