ACON Investments Invests in Grupo GMI

Washington, DC, January 3, 2017 – ACON Investments (“ACON”) announced today that affiliates of ACON Latin America Opportunities Fund IV, L.P. (“ALAOF IV”), have made an investment in Controladora GMI, S.A.P.I. de C.V. (“GMI” or the “Company”), the leading manufacturer and provider of modular construction solutions in Mexico and Latin America serving the aeronautical, education, housing, retail and industrial sectors.

Through its investment in GMI, ACON will seek to enhance the Company’s commercial and regional expansion strategy, building on more than 50 years of GMI’s design and manufacturing experience as well as on its successful track record in project execution. The transaction builds on ACON’s experience as an investor in companies like GMI, which can address, with a unique competitive advantage, the deficits and growing demand that persist in certain critical sectors in the region. GMI can deliver hangars and complete MRO facilities for airlines, rural housing and hospitals, schools and retail stores in large unit volumes, with better functionality, in less time and at a lower total cost than traditional construction methods. The investment is also representative of the firm’s strategy in Latin America, where it seeks to partner with established management teams and invest through highly structured transactions in middle-market businesses that are at inflection points.

Oscar Peralta, GMI’s Founder and President, said, “This partnership with ACON will help put GMI on a solid path to achieve its full potential, not only by bringing capital for growth at the appropriate time but also by leveraging our mutual regional presence and market knowledge.”

“We are excited to partner with GMI and its founding family to continue to build on their many years of innovation and track record delivering modular construction solutions,” said Jorge Dickens, a Managing Partner of ACON. “The Company has developed a robust set of proprietary technologies and manufacturing capabilities that are ripe for expansion into its target sectors and into other regional markets,” added Mr. Dickens.

“GMI has executed projects in nine countries in Latin America and in the U.S., and has proved its ability to export its proprietary technologies and deliver on its value proposition,” remarked Mauricio Cortes, ACON’s Managing Director based in Mexico City.

Founded in 1996, ACON manages several private equity funds focused both in the U.S. and Latin America, and is also manager of publicly traded trust certificates in Mexico (“Certificados de Capital de Desarrollo” or “CKD”) which includes some of the country’s largest pension funds as its investors.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

About GMI
GMI delivers modular construction solutions in Mexico and Latin America (i.e., schools, housing, retail stores, rural hospitals and aviation hangars among other solutions) under a business model that combines proprietary technology with vertical integration from design to manufacturing to final assembly. This unique combination allows the Company to deliver solutions in large volumes, less time, at a lower total cost and with advanced functionality compared to traditional construction alternatives.

About ACON Investments
ACON Investments is a Washington, DC-based international private equity investment firm that manages private equity funds and special purpose partnerships that make investments in the United States and Latin America. Founded in 1996, ACON and its principals have managed approximately $5.3 billion of capital. ACON has professionals in Washington, DC, Los Angeles, São Paulo, Mexico City, and Bogotá. For more information, visit www.aconinvestments.com.

CONTACT:
Midhat Pawlak
ACON Investments, L.L.C.
(202) 386-9767