LAP Latin American Partners

Juan S. Mendez serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer, leading the Investment Committee. He has spent multiple decades focused on Latin American private equity, previously holding senior roles at regional financial institutions. Decisions are centralized through the Washington, DC office with input from Bogotá-based operating partners.

LAP Latin American Partners operates as a traditional third-party private equity manager, not a family office. It raises blind-pool funds from institutional limited partners, including development finance institutions, US endowments, and European pension funds, and invests through a standard ten-year fund lifecycle with management fees and carried interest.

The firm concentrates on the Andean region — principally Colombia and Peru — and Mexico. It does not typically pursue deals in Brazil, Argentina, or Chile, where competitive dynamics and macro volatility differ. Its operational presence in Bogotá supports direct sourcing in Colombia, its most active market.

LAP seeks control or significant minority positions through equity and structured equity instruments. The firm does not operate as a fund-of-funds or make passive minority investments. It uses drawdown fund structures raised from institutional LPs, and it has historically co-invested alongside development finance institutions on larger transactions.

LAP avoids extractive industries, commodities, and natural resources — sectors that dominate Latin American GDP but carry governance and ESG risk profiles incompatible with its institutional LP base. It also does not invest in early-stage venture or technology startups, sticking to established cash-flow-positive companies.

The firm relies on a network of Bogotá-based operating partners and long-standing relationships with local business families facing succession challenges. Many targets are founder-owned businesses without formal sell-side advisors. LAP's approach involves direct origination rather than competitive auction processes, which the firm argues produces better entry valuations.

LAP offers co-investment opportunities to its institutional limited partners on a deal-by-deal basis, typically in transactions exceeding its standard equity check size. Development finance institutions, including IFC, have participated in such structures. Terms are generally pari passu with the main fund.