Luaos Santus

Luis Santos is a Founding and Managing Partner of Alpac Capital, a Portuguese investment group he co-founded in 2013 with Pedro Vargas David (the firm's CEO). Before Alpac, Santos spent roughly nine years as a consultant at McKinsey & Company, working across Europe, South America and Asia. He holds an MBA from Columbia University and a PhD in Political Science and International Relations from Universidade Católica Portuguesa. He is the son of Fernando Santos, the Portuguese football manager who led Portugal to the 2016 UEFA European Championship and the 2019 UEFA Nations League title.

Alpac Capital is headquartered in Lisbon, with regional offices in Budapest and Doha. The firm manages several vehicles structured as EuVECA funds regulated by Portugal's securities regulator (CMVM): a technology/venture fund (East West EuVECA, launched 2017), a telecom fund (Luso Pannon EuVECA), and a media fund (Future Media EuVECA). The tech fund invests directly in SMEs; the telecom fund holds a qualified minority stake in the Hungarian IT-telecom conglomerate 4iG; and the media fund is the vehicle through which Alpac took control of pan-European broadcaster Euronews.

Santos's most prominent transaction is Alpac's December 2021 agreement — completed in 2022 — to acquire a controlling stake (reported at roughly 98%) in Lyon-based Euronews from Egyptian telecoms billionaire Naguib Sawiris, in a deal reported at around €170 million. Alpac also holds Portuguese media interests (e.g., the Nascer do Sol newspaper via Newsplex) and, since 2025, has grouped Balkan outlets such as N1, Nova S, Vijesti and Danas under an Adria News Network structure. The Euronews financing has drawn press scrutiny over reported funding links to Hungarian state-connected sources.

• Invests in SMEs that already have market traction — the East West fund targets "experienced teams with products and services which have already been successfully tested in the market," i.e., growth/scale-up rather than pre-seed bets.
• Stated approach is hands-on: "hands-on equity investments with active involvement in business development to support scale-up and ensure the highest standards of professional management."
• Thematic focus on digital transformation software for private companies and institutions, plus telecom and media as separate control-oriented strategies.
• Emphasis on cross-regional (Portugal–Hungary–Central Europe) market access as the value-add — using the firm's Lisbon/Budapest footprint to help portfolio companies expand across those corridors.
• Willing to take majority/control positions in larger telecom and media assets (4iG stake, Euronews control), distinct from the minority venture stakes in the tech fund.