BANKING/FINANCE
Compiled by James S. Granelli / Times staff writer
A New Direction: Ventana Growth Funds, an Irvine venture capital fund, is deviating from the traditional investments in new or very young firms with a new fund aimed at providing expansion capital for later-stage, medium-size companies.
Ventana has raised $15 million in the first phase of a planned $50-million partnership fund that will help companies planning to add manufacturing facilities in Mexico under the maquiladora program, said Thomas O. Gephart, a managing partner.
The maquiladora program allows U.S. or multinational firms to establish a manufacturing plant in Mexico for labor-intensive processing or assembly.
