GREENWICH, Conn., Feb. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Gramercy, a dedicated emerging markets investment manager, today announced several strategic hires to its Latin America private equity investment team co-led by Gustavo Ferraro, a Managing Director and Head of Latin American Markets at Gramercy, and David Britts, a Managing Director focused on private equity. The firm has also formed a TMT Advisory Board and appointed several members.

The team intends to invest in private Latin American middle market companies in the technology and technology-enabled sectors that have limited access to financing and global markets. As part of this effort, Gramercy has opened an office in Silicon Valley and will be expanding its network of local offices in Latin America.

"We believe this combination of highly experienced Latin America professionals complements our existing capabilities and will strengthen our extensive network of contacts in the region, provide substantial additional research resources, and add an exceptional operational team to our platform," said Robert Koenigsberger, Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer at Gramercy.

Ferraro added: "Our team of Latin American nationals based on the ground, who will be providing steady deal flow, execution, due diligence and specific market insights on investment prospects, gives us a real edge given the mid-market nature of our strategy."

The members of the investment team have over 140 years of combined experience in advising companies and sourcing, leading, negotiating, executing and operating private equity investments across the region and in the technology industry.

"Our local team, combined with our global team of experts in technology, operations and geographic expansion, positions us well to take advantage of extremely attractive investment opportunities throughout Latin America," said Britts.

The investment team includes:

David Britts has been an active private equity investor for 17 years. He has been a General Partner at Fuse Capital (aka, ComVentures), a Silicon Valley based venture capital fund with $1.5 billion in assets under management and a focus towards TMT since 2002. Prior to his tenure at Fuse Capital, Mr. Britts was a General Partner at JPMorgan Partners, the private equity arm of JPMorgan.

Gustavo Ferraro has over 26 years of investment banking and capital markets experience. He has dedicated the majority of his career to Latin America and has extensive relationships in the region. He served as a Managing Director with Barclays Capital, where he led a capital markets team that managed the firm´s Latin American corporate and sovereign clients with a significant focus towards debt capital markets and liability management.

Javier Ledesma-Arocena has over 12 years of private equity experience in Latin America. He launched and built up HSBC´s private equity platform in Latin America, investing over $150 million in private equity transactions across Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Chile.

Carlos Anderson has over 18 years of M&A advisory experience in Latin America. He has been a senior member of advisory teams at Lehman Brothers and UBS in New York and ABN Amro in London.

Roberto Colliard, Gramercy´s Senior Advisor for Mexico and Central America, has over 36 years of industry experience. He is currently Chairman of the Board of Pendulum Associates and one of Gramercy´s representatives in Mexico.

Lorenzo Souza, Gramercy´s Senior Advisor for the Andean Pact, has over 25 years of successful entrepreneurial and investment experience in Latin America. He founded and managed companies including Peru Orient Express, Peru Rail, Peruval SAB and Tele 2000, amongst others.

Building upon its investment team, Gramercy has also established an operational team that includes:

Carlos Ramon, also a Latin American national, has over 20 years of global general management and CEO experience with leading TMT companies such as PeopleSoft, Akamai, and Conviva. Mr. Ramon will be based in Silicon Valley and focus on the strategy implementation and value creation process at portfolio companies through technology transformation, geographic expansion and operational optimization in addition to leading operational due diligence on prospects and strategic plan implementation in portfolio companies.

Kevin Moure, the strategy´s Executive in Residence (based in Mexico), will act as operating partner to portfolio companies. Mr. Moure has successfully managed several operating companies throughout his 24-year experience and currently operates Pendulum Associates, Mexico´s largest independent servicer of performing and non-performing loans.

In addition to its team of senior investment professionals, Gramercy has formed a "TMT Advisory Board" that will use its expertise to strengthen networking capabilities across industries and geographies and opine on investment opportunities.

The initial members of the Board will be Eduardo Caride (Director of Telefonica Internacional for Latin America, ex-Brazil/Mexico), Bill Huang (General Manager of China Mobile Research Institute), Jon Miller (former Chairman & CEO of AOL), Zod Nazem (former CTO of Yahoo) and Rick Rommel (SVP and GM Best Buy Exclusive Brands).

About Gramercy:Gramercy is a $3.4 billion dedicated emerging markets investment manager based in Greenwich, CT with offices in London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico. The firm, founded in 1998, seeks to provide investors with superior risk-adjusted returns through a comprehensive approach to emerging markets supported by a transparent and robust institutional platform. Gramercy offers both alternative and long-only strategies across all asset classes (USD debt, local currency debt, high yield corporate debt, distressed debt, equity, macro, tail risk, private equity and special situations). www.gramercy.com