Arzac to chair Macquarie’s Mexican infra fund

Macquarie has appointed Jonathan Davis Arzac, formerly the president of advisory firm GateKeeping Mexico, as executive chairman of its Mexican infrastructure fund.

Arzac is a well known figure in the Mexican financial community with a long public sector curriculum. Prior to heading GateKeeping Mexico, Arzac was the president of Mexico’s National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV), a financial regulator, between 2000 and 2006.

Arzac will replace chief executive Stephen Mentzines and will take over Mark Ramsey’s seat on the fund’s management board. Mentzines will continue to hold his seat on the fund’s board. Macquarie has also replaced Ramsey and Luis Edelen on the fund’s technical committee with Arzac and Jose Solis respectively.

Ramsey, the former head of Macquarie’s Private Placement Group, set up Macquarie’s Mexican business and was instrumental in launching Macquarie’s infrastructure fund. A source close to the company told Infrastructure Investor that Ramsey will continue to head Macquarie’s Mexican operations, but will now focus on growing the office and developing its advisory business.

Macquarie launched its Mexican infrastructure fund earlier this year scooping up $408 million in initial commitments, including $268 million from seven Mexican pension funds. The fund is targeting about $1.1 billion in total commitments.