Financial Services
Real Estate and Equipment Rental Services
Active

ADRIAN CANO

Former investment banker and fund manager looking to add value in creating /consolidating businesses

About Me

I am passionate about structuring, starting, running, growing and consolidating businesses. My expertise is "to make things happen". I was an investment banker for many years (Evercore) and led the real estate practice in Mexico for five years (approximately USD$ 11 billion worth of advised closed transactions). Then, I moved from the sell side to the buy side: I negotiated and executed a partnership with a large US real estate company (Affinius Capital – formerly USAA Real Estate- which is one of the largest in terms of industrial development in the US) to form a general partner to manage investment vehicles in Mexico, which I ran. The interest rate hikes (which started in 2022) eventually dried institutional sources of capital for us (and for very many), and my US partners and I decided to wind up our business. I continued my bet on real estate industrial development in Mexico, now targeting non-institutional sources of capital, but the current capital markets environment is not appropriate for what I was pursuing: I am able to read the underlying market dynamics and assess when to pause, stop or move forward. I know how to structure and execute transactions and businesses. I have started, run and wound up businesses. I know how to form, deal with and lead teams; negotiate transactions; raise money and deploy it. I am looking for a new professional opportunity to continue to make things happen and add value in creating and/or consolidating business. I look forward to hearing from you.

Jurisdiction

Mexico

Notable Employer

  • Senior Category Finance Manager at Unilever Mexico - Food Division
  • Managing Director for the Real Estate Practice at Evercore Mexico - Investment Banking
  • Co-founder and Managing Partner at JV with Affinius Capital (formerly USAA Real Estate)

Experience

Seniority LevelExecutive
Years of Experience20+ years
Current StatusActive
Senior Category Finance ManagerNotableUnilever Mexico - Food Division
2003 - 2007

• Led and implemented a strategic project (reporting directly to the Chairman and CEO) to strengthen cross-business decision-making processes • Transformed the Finance Area from a support function into a business partner, significantly increasing its involvement in strategic decision-making • Drove evidence-based resource reallocation in promotional activities, shifting focus from wholesale sales to strategies that generated final-consumer demand

Managing Director for the Real Estate PracticeNotableEvercore Mexico - Investment Banking
2007 - 2020

• Structured six IPOs (five completed) for real estate and infrastructure investment vehicles, raising over USD 2.3B, including landmark deals such as FUNO (Mexico’s first and largest), FUNO’s CKD (first real estate CKD for development and future drop-down to FUNO), FibraHotel (first hotel-focused), FIBRA Danhos (first premier retail/office-focused), and CFE’s FIBRA E (first MLP-like vehicle) • Structured five FIBRA equity follow-ons (~USD 5.6B), including FUNO’s record offering (largest in Mexico, 2nd largest worldwide for a real estate company) and FibraHotel’s issuances • Participated in FIBRA Danhos’ inaugural debt issuance, raising USD 220M • Structured and closed debt-financing transactions totaling over USD 500M, M&A transactions (including FIBRA property acquisitions) worth ~USD 1.5B, and equity placements and development JVs exceeding USD 330M • Provided strategic advisory to clients on senior management appointments and corporate governance

Co-founder and Managing PartnerNotableJV with Affinius Capital (formerly USAA Real Estate)
2020 - 2025

• Negotiated a partnership between Vaca Partners (own company) and Affinus Capital to establish a GP, creating a platform to invest in institutional-quality industrial property developments in Mexico • Directed site identification, land acquisition negotiations, and investment structuring for the development of industrial parks • Refocused the GP’s strategy in response to interest rate hikes, aiming at mitigating funding constraints and safeguarding investment opportunities • Led the dissolution of the partnership structure across Mexico and the US, ensuring orderly wind-down and regulatory compliance

Education

Degree of EconomicsINSTITUTO TECNOLOGICO AUTONOMO DE MEXICO (ITAM)
1995 - 1999
Masters of MBAMIT SLOAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
2001 - 2003
Degree
Present

Skills

Core skills0
Languages3

Languages

English
English (British)
Spanish