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IG4 Capital
IG4 Capital, led by Paulo Mattos, buys stressed mid-market infrastructure in Latin America and runs a private-equity operating turnaround playbook on it.
IG4 Capital
IG4 Capital was founded in São Paulo in 2016 by Paulo Mattos, who previously built and ran the Illiquid Credit & Special Situations platform for Partners Group in the Americas. The firm emerged at a moment when Brazil's largest conglomerates — scarred by Car Wash, recession, and currency collapse — were shedding non-core infrastructure subsidiaries to deleverage. Mattos structured IG4 to buy those assets, raise western institutional LP capital, and apply a private-equity operational toolkit to what is traditionally a yield-play asset class. The firm focuses on mid-market control acquisitions in regulated infrastructure sectors across Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Colombia, with confirmed positions including water and wastewater utility concessionaires and electricity transmission operators. IG4 typically acquires majority stakes, installs operating partners and independent directors, and works through multi-year turnaround plans addressing tariff resets, capital expenditure efficiency, collections leakage, and regulatory compliance. The strategy spans core-plus infrastructure, special situations, and select real asset platforms tied to the energy transition, funded through blind-pool drawdown funds structured for North American and European institutional LPs. IG4 operates from São Paulo and New York, allowing it to raise capital from North American foundations, endowments, and pension funds while executing deals on the ground in Latin America. The firm closed its second flagship in 2023, targeting a larger pool of capital than the debut 2018 fund. The leadership group includes senior hires from Patria, Actis, and Brookfield, building out an investment team that blends local regulatory expertise with institutional portfolio management standards. IG4's structural distinction is its private-equity operating model applied to essential-service infrastructure in markets where regulatory risk is often the primary barrier to institutional capital. Rather than bidding in auctions against strategic acquirers, the firm sources proprietary, bilateral transactions from distressed corporate sellers or insolvency processes, creating entry valuations that compound the operating returns it engineers. This combination of sourcing model, operator-heavy approach, and blind-pool fund structure sets it apart from both the large infrastructure direct investors and the local yield-seeking family offices in its market.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
2016
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
Latin America
Country
Brazil
City
São Paulo
Corporate office
São Paulo, Brazil
Additional offices
New York, United States
Principals
Paulo Mattos
CEO and Founding Partner
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who makes investment decisions at IG4 Capital?
Paulo Mattos, as CEO and Founding Partner, chairs the investment committee and leads the firm's overall strategy. He is supported by a senior team drawn from firms including Patria, Actis, and Brookfield, with sector specialists covering utilities, transportation, and energy. Investment decisions follow a consensus-driven committee process standard for institutional blind-pool fund managers.
How does IG4 source its deals?
IG4 primarily pursues bilateral, off-market transactions with distressed corporate sellers, such as Brazilian conglomerates under pressure from creditors, or through court-supervised restructuring processes. The firm explicitly avoids competitive auctions against strategic acquirers, targeting situations where a credible cash buyer can negotiate exclusivity in exchange for speed and certainty of closing.
What investment stages and asset types does IG4 target?
The firm targets control acquisitions of mid-market operating infrastructure assets, primarily in the water and wastewater, regulated electricity transmission, and toll road sectors across Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Colombia. It also evaluates select energy transition platforms and real asset operating companies. IG4 does not invest in greenfield development, pre-revenue construction, or pure real estate development.
Is IG4 a family office or a traditional asset manager?
IG4 Capital is an institutional asset manager, not a family office. It raises capital through blind-pool drawdown funds from North American and European limited partners and manages those funds on a commingled, discretionary basis. The firm's governance and fee model follow standard private-equity fund conventions.
Does IG4 invest in funds or only directly?
IG4's core business is making direct control acquisitions in operating infrastructure companies. The firm does not market itself as a fund-of-funds manager and has not publicly disclosed material commitments to external private-equity or infrastructure funds.
How does IG4 approach operating turnarounds in infrastructure?
After acquiring a controlling stake, IG4 installs operating partners and independent directors directly into the portfolio company. Turnaround plans typically address tariff-renegotiation strategy, capital expenditure efficiency, collections improvement, and procurement rationalization. The firm targets improved regulatory positioning and operational cash flows as the primary drivers of exit value.
Where is IG4's capital coming from?
The firm raises primarily from North American and European institutional investors, including foundations, endowments, and pension funds. Its New York office supports fundraising and investor relations, while deal sourcing and asset management execution run from São Paulo.
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