Pantheon opens Bogotá office to serve South America

Pantheon Ventures has opened an office in Bogotá, Colombia staffed with two investment professionals to cover primary, secondaries and co-investments for Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Peru, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Bogotá was selected as the location for the office because of its geographic proximity to other countries, according to the source.

Pantheon principal Jamie Londoño, who joined the Pantheon’s San Francisco office as head of Latin American investments in February 2012, has been leading the firm’s efforts in Bogotá since January. The Bogotá office was reportedly expected to open in May 2013 before the plans were delayed. Londoño previously spent 10 years at investment advisory firm Wilshire Associates.

Pantheon declined to comment.

“[Colombia] has a dynamic economy with a stable regulatory framework and a business friendly environment that makes it easier for firms like ours to establish a presence in the country,” Londoño said in a 2012 interview with Private Equity International, shortly after he joined the firm.

Other private equity firms considering opening an office in Colombia include The Carlyle Group, according to media reports.

Despite growing interest in Colombia and Peru, a significant number of new private equity firms are not expected to open offices in the regions, according to Camilo Villaveces, president and chief executive officer of Andean private equity investment manager Ashmore Colombia.

“I think the people who were going to come to Bogotá and Peru are basically here, and Mexico is now the place to expect openings of new offices,” Villaveces told PEI in an interview last month.

Pantheon is based in San Francisco and has offices in Hong Kong, London and New York, according to its website.