Ilha Capital  /  About Us
About Us

Built for the transactions that matter most

Senior-led advisory for Brazil’s mid-market - with partners directly engaged on every mandate, from first conversation to close.

Our story

Ilha Capital was founded on a clear conviction: that Brazil’s mid-market represented one of the most compelling opportunities in Latin American finance. A large and dynamic segment of companies, navigating increasingly complex transactions, with growing cross-border ambitions and a need for advisory that combined genuine local expertise with international reach and institutional-grade analysis.

We built Ilha Capital around that opportunity. From the outset, our commitment was straightforward: every client would work directly with a founding partner from the first conversation to final close, supported by the analytical depth, market intelligence, and cross-border capability that sophisticated transactions require. Each engagement is built as the foundation of a long-term advisory relationship.

Since our founding in 2020, we have advised over 50 companies across Brazil on transactions spanning every major service we offer, from preparing family-owned businesses for international sale to supporting foreign acquirers deploying capital in sectors they had never operated in before.

Founding Partner Michael Fraser
Founding Partner Fergus Martin

Four values that guide every engagement

i.

Integrity above all else

Ilha Capital’s reputation is built on the quality of its advice and the outcomes it delivers for clients. Where a transaction does not serve a client’s interests, that assessment is part of the counsel we provide.

ii.

Relationships built over years

Ilha Capital’s client relationships extend well beyond individual transactions. Most clients engage us across multiple mandates and phases of strategic development, returning as their businesses and ambitions evolve.

iii.

Complete confidentiality

Every detail of a client’s transaction, their business, and their circumstances is treated as strictly confidential by every member of our team, at every stage of an engagement.

iv.

Rigor in every analysis

We do not issue indicative valuations without the data to support them, or recommend strategic courses of action without the analysis to back them. Our clients make better decisions because they have better information.

The founding partners, on every mandate

Michael Fraser

Michael Fraser

Founding Partner

Michael Fraser has over 15 years of experience in the financial markets, specializing in M&A advisory and capital raising across the United States and Latin America. As a founding partner of Ilha Capital, he has advised both Brazilian companies and international clients on a broad range of transactions, bringing deep expertise in deal origination, transaction structuring, and operational execution. He built his career at the intersection of North American capital markets and Latin American business, supporting companies in the US, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, and Brazil. Michael holds a B.A. from Brown University.

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Fergus Martin

Fergus Martin

Founding Partner

Fergus Martin has more than 15 years of experience in M&A advisory and cross-border transactions, specializing in company valuation and the structuring of complex deals between Brazilian companies and international investors and acquirers, with a particular focus on Latin America. He combines the analytical rigor of an engineering mindset with the judgment and execution that mid-market transactions demand, and brings particular expertise in financial services, payments, and Brazilian financial regulation. M.Eng, University College London (UCL).

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Every client of Ilha Capital has direct access to both partners throughout their engagement.

Five years advising capital in Brazil

2020

Founding

Ilha Capital is established, bringing together M&A advisory and capital raising under a single advisory boutique.

2021

Permanent base

Ilha Capital establishes its permanent base in Florianópolis and expands its sell-side and buy-side capabilities.

2022

Twelve new clients

Structured sell-side processes delivering founder exits, divestitures, and shareholder liquidity events across the Brazilian mid-market.

2023

International expansion

First exclusively international engagements in the U.S. and EU. Cross-border advisory and strategic M&A services launched. Twenty-eight new clients.

2024

Thirty-one new clients

Foreign companies supported with Brazilian buy-side strategies, capital raising, and development finance advisory.

2025

Repeat mandates

Buy-side mandates deepen as clients return for second and third engagements, acquiring targets, raising capital, and building lasting value.