Javier Faus
Javier Faus is a leading Spanish private equity investor, chairman and founder of the Barcelona-based alternative investment fund management firm . Very active in civic associations, he served as Vice Chairman of FC Barcelona. From july 2019 until july 2022, he chaired the Cercle d'Economia, a leading Spanish think tank that promotes liberal democracy public policies.
Early life and education
He has a Law Degree from Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, a Masters in International Law from Georgetown University and an Executive MBA from ESADE Business School.Career
Prior to his investment career, Faus worked as an M&A lawyer in the offices of J&A Garrigues and Cuatrecasas Abogados.In 2001, he led a consortium to acquire HOVISA, the real estate company that owned Hotel Arts in Barcelona, amongst other assets. He subsequently became president and minority shareholder for the company. In 2006 he managed the sale of HOVISA to a JV formed by Host Hotels & Resorts and GIC. This deal reached, at the time, the highest price ever paid for a single real estate asset in Spain.
Between 2003 and 2006, Faus was managing Partner for Spain and Portugal at Patron Capital Partners, a London-based real estate fund manager.
In 2006 Faus founded Meridia Capital Partner], a private equity fund management firm specialized in private equity and real estate. Its first fund, Meridia I, invested in urban hotel real estate including the W Paris Opéra Hotel, the Four Seasons Hotel in Mexico City, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Santiago de Chile and the InterContinental Hotel in São Paulo. In 2014 Meridia Capital launched Meridia II and subsequently Meridia III and Meridia IV, all with similar strategies.
In 2016, made initial investments in the private equity space through its vehicle Meridia Private Equity I. The fund currently has 5 portfolio companies:,,, and Kipenzi.
Additionally Meridia acts, since 2019, as exclusive advisor in Spain and Portugal for ´s pan-European Social Infrastructure Fund, a fund seeking financial returns while delivering a measurable social and environmental impact.
Faus is also an active business angel in the Spanish start-up arena, having invested in companies such as,, and under the umbrella of Mnext Venture Capital.
Between 2010 and 2014 he was a member of the board of directors at Inmobiliaria Colonial, one of the leading public Spanish Real Estate companies. Since 2016 he is a member of the board of directors of Indukern, a leading Spanish pharmaceutical company.
Faus has won several awards, including the 2002 Deal of the Year by International Hotel Investment Forum and the SAHIC 2011 Award for Best Investor.
On July 24, 2019, Faus was elected president of the Circle of Economics. As the only candidate he was proclaimed president with 423 favorable votes, 1 vote against and one abstention. Faus announced the creation of an advisory council that would be led by the outgoing president, Juan José Brugera, and the two former presidents, the professor of the University of Barcelona, Anton Costas and the former minister of the People's Party, Josep Piqué. He also made public that the new management board would be equally gendered: 10 men and 10 women of renowned prestige.