About Alcara Partners
Alcara Partners is a cross-border M&A advisory firm specializing in transactions between international investors and established businesses across Spain and Latin America.
We serve two distinct client groups: international investors seeking acquisition opportunities in Spanish-speaking markets, and business owners exploring strategic alternatives. Our expertise lies in navigating the cultural and operational complexities that characterize cross-border transactions in these regions.
The firm was founded on a fundamental insight: the most attractive businesses in Spain and Latin America rarely appear on public listings. Access requires local presence, trusted relationships, and the ability to position opportunities in ways that resonate across different business cultures. This is where we focus our practice.
Our Focus
We advise on mid-market transactions involving Spanish and Latin American businesses, with particular emphasis on the operational and cultural dimensions that determine success in cross-border mandates.
Our geographic focus reflects strategic positioning rather than limitation. Spain and Latin America share business culture, legal frameworks, and language—yet operate within distinctly different economic contexts. This creates natural arbitrage opportunities for investors who can navigate both environments effectively.
For international investors, we provide systematic access to opportunities that would otherwise require years of local relationship development. Our process combines structured research with the discretion and personal engagement that business owners in these markets expect.
For business owners, we offer confidential guidance on strategic alternatives, valuation expectations, and buyer identification—particularly for those considering international partnerships or succession solutions. Our relationships with international capital sources allow us to facilitate introductions on favorable terms.
Our Approach
Relationship-Based Origination
The most attractive transactions in Spanish-speaking markets emerge from trusted relationships, not public listings. We maintain systematic engagement with business owners, intermediaries, and industry networks to identify opportunities before they reach broader markets. This requires local presence and patience—both of which we provide.
Cultural Translation
Cross-border transactions fail most often due to cultural misalignment rather than financial disagreement. We bridge the expectations gap between international capital and Spanish or Latin American business culture—positioning foreign investors in ways that build trust, and presenting local businesses in terms international investors understand and value.
Operational Perspective
Our background in business operations informs how we evaluate opportunities and advise clients. We assess companies not merely through financial models but through operational realities— understanding how value is actually created, where integration risks lie, and what drives performance beyond the closing date. This perspective shapes our recommendations throughout the transaction process.
Discretion and Confidentiality
We understand that business owners value privacy, and investors require confidentiality during evaluation processes. Our approach emphasizes selective outreach, careful positioning, and information control throughout engagement. We do not conduct broad market campaigns or employ high-pressure tactics that compromise client interests.
Team
Jose Miguel Almonacid Caracciolo
Founder & Managing Partner
Jose Miguel Almonacid Caracciolo founded Alcara Partners following a career spanning management consulting, corporate finance, and business operations across multiple European markets.
His professional background includes strategic consulting engagements, corporate finance roles within German Mittelstand companies, and finance positions at high-growth technology firms. This combination of traditional SME experience and modern operational expertise informs the firm's approach to transaction advisory.
Prior to establishing Alcara Partners, Jose Miguel co-founded Alcara Tech, a business transformation consultancy serving European companies across various sectors. This operational experience provides practical insight into post-acquisition value creation—understanding not only how to evaluate businesses but how to improve them following ownership transition.
Based in Valencia and fluent in Spanish, English, and German, Jose Miguel brings the linguistic capability and cultural understanding required for effective cross-border advisory. His connections across North America, Latin America and Europe position the firm to serve the growing investment corridor between these regions.
The decision to focus exclusively on Spain and Latin America reflects deliberate specialization rather than geographic constraint. Deep market knowledge, established relationships, and cultural fluency create advantages that generalist advisors cannot easily replicate. This focus allows the firm to deliver differentiated value to clients pursuing opportunities in these markets.
Our Standards
We provide candid assessment of opportunities, including factors that may not favor transaction completion. Our obligation is to facilitate informed decision-making, not to promote transactions that do not serve client interests.
We maintain clear engagement structures. When representing investors in acquisition processes, this relationship is disclosed to sellers. When advising business owners on strategic alternatives, we clarify which parties we represent and how our compensation aligns with outcomes.
We prioritize quality of engagement over volume of activity. Clients receive focused attention on carefully qualified opportunities rather than broad market exposure to numerous prospects of uncertain fit.
We remain engaged through transaction complexity. M&A processes inevitably encounter obstacles— valuation disagreements, due diligence findings, negotiation impasses. Our role is to navigate these challenges alongside clients rather than withdraw when difficulties emerge.
We build relationships with multi-transaction perspective. The firm's success derives from client success across multiple engagements and referrals to other principals. Short-term optimization at the expense of long-term relationships runs contrary to our interests and values.
Begin a Conversation
We welcome inquiries from investors evaluating opportunities in Spain and Latin America, and from business owners considering strategic alternatives.