$10m EBITDA After COVID Killed The Business

Nicolás Lulli "grew up" at Relay Investments, a well-known fund in the traditional search fund world in the Prudential Tower in Boston. With their backing, he later acquired a $1m EBITDA business in Peru shortly before the pandemic. Peru was hard hit by the pandemic, not the least due to draconian government policies. So $1m EBITDA dropped to $0, before heavy-lifting turned it around to $10m and climbing.

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Nicolás launched Colca Capital in 2019, moved to Lima for 5 years, and became the blueprint for regional business acquirers. Colca has built a strong brand in the Andean region. Nicolás now splits his time between Lima and Boston, managing the platform with a mix of traditional search grit and sophisticated institutional oversight (akin an independent sponsor).

After COVID gutted Polysystemas' top line, Nicolás and his partners slashed headcount and pivoted the revenue mix to focus solely on high-margin, recurring record storage. By winning four "step function" contracts, he grew EBITDA from $0 to $5m in 2 years (and then to $10m 3 years after that again). They built a culture that resembles a 1,200-person strong sports team, with each role privy to a "daily colonoscopy" via scripted, specific micro-KPIs where every (frontline) worker has skin in the game.

The business actually has an obvious acquirer; Iron Mountain, the industry's 800-lbs gorilla. Nicolás knows their CFO, and even says hi to him during this recording (in case he listens). Some sponsors would build their company to fit their most likely acquirer, but Nicolás advocates for a more independent, diversified approach. By focusing on incremental capital, he ensures the business remains a high-yield prize for any buyer. He's building a business that is compelling to hold and has the processes to continue scaling, believing that a high-quality business will always command high-quality interest (and multiples).

Nicolás cut his teeth at Relay Investments under the legendary Sandro Mina. Starting as an associate in 2017, he got intimately familiar with the traditional search ecosystem before evolving into a high-velocity, in-the-operations, roll-up sponsor. He combines the unique combination of a searcher's detailed & patient mindset and the aggressive hunger of a serial acquirer aiming for a $25m EBITDA target.

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