Stories
Stories
From Retail to Real Estate
When Nicolas Ibañez’s (MBA 2011) grandfather opened the doors of a grocery store in the 1950s, it was Chile’s first supermarket and an immediate success. Over time the business expanded into Distribución y Servicio D&S SA, a publicly traded national chain and generations-long family enterprise—until it was acquired by Walmart for $1.6 billion in 2009.
As reported in the Bloomberg story, “Harvard Grad Solves His Family’s $1.6 Billion Liquidity Problem,” Ibañez was settling in to his first year at HBS at that time, just as the family business was making the initial steps of what would become a decade-long transition from operator to investor. “I completely shifted my curriculum,” he says, turning his focus to finance. “Suddenly, as a family, we had this big challenge of managing our liquidity.”
A year after completing his MBA, he set up the New York-based property investment firm Drake Real Estate Partners. The firm has been of particular interest to Latin American investors looking for the protections offered by American real estate. Focused on deals outside the major American cities and with assets approaching $1.5 billion, the firm is looking to raise $400 million for a new fund this year.
Post a Comment
Related Stories
-
- 09 Jan 2023
- Bloomberg
Alumna Leads Biggest Ever Debut for a Woman-led Hedge Fund
Re: Mala Gaonkar (MBA 1996) -
- 30 Jul 2020
- HBS Health Care Initiative
Entrepreneurship and Investing During the Global Crisis
Re: Steve Pagliuca (MBA 1982) -
- 30 Jul 2020
- CNBC
Investing in the “Silver Tsunami”
Re: Abby Levy (MBA 2001); Jon Patricof (MBA 2001) -
- 18 Sep 2019
- Wall Street Journal
Buffett Protégé Britt Cool to Start Own Firm
Re: Tracy Britt Cool (MBA 2009)