Portugal Private Equity 2025: Why US Investors Are Looking at Explorer V - and How It Links to the Golden Visa

Why US Investors Are Looking at Portugal Private Equity in 2025

Over the last decade, Portugal has quietly evolved from a peripheral EU market into a high-quality deal environment for private equity - particularly in the €10-20m equity ticket range. Compared with more crowded hubs like Spain, France or Germany, competition for deals in Portugal remains lower, while the country benefits from:

• Stable eurozone framework and EU legal protections.
• A highly skilled yet cost-competitive workforce, especially in engineering, tech and industrial services.
• Strong export orientation - many portfolio companies sell into Northern Europe and the US.
• Active consolidation opportunities in fragmented sectors, where professionalisation and international expansion can unlock significant value.

For US investors, this creates an opportunity to diversify away from domestic buyout cycles while still investing in OECD-regulated, euro-denominated assets with attractive growth potential.

How Portugal Private Equity Can Link to the Golden Visa

For some investors, the appeal of Portugal private equity is purely financial: access to a growing economy, disciplined managers and attractive risk-adjusted returns. For others - especially US, UK, Middle Eastern and Latin American families - there is an additional layer of value: EU residency optionality.

Portugal allows qualifying investments into CMVM-regulated funds to be used as a route to the Portuguese Golden Visa. While Explorer V itself is a private equity strategy focused on control investments, many investors structure their overall Portugal allocation through:

• A core exposure to private equity for returns and cash generation; and
• A complementary allocation to a Golden Visa-eligible fund for residency optionality.

The result is a blended approach where capital works in two dimensions - portfolio performance and global mobility.

““For many US investors, the Golden Visa is a bonus, not the main driver. The core question is: does the underlying strategy make sense as an institutional-grade allocation? In Portugal private equity, that answer is increasingly yes.””

For a detailed comparison of fund-based residency routes, see our 2025 European Golden Visa comparison guide.

Next Steps: Combining Private Equity Returns with Portugal Residency Options

Whether or not you choose to pursue the Golden Visa, a dedicated Portugal private equity allocation can play a strategic role in your portfolio:

1. Define your objective. Are you primarily seeking returns, diversification, residency options - or a combination of the three?
2. Assess manager quality. Track record, team depth and alignment of interest are critical. Explorer Investments has over two decades in the Portuguese market with multiple realised funds.
3. Choose the right structure. Some investors allocate directly to PE strategies; others combine them with Golden Visa-eligible funds for residency optionality.
4. Plan tax and compliance. US investors in particular should work with advisors familiar with PFIC rules, FATCA and cross-border reporting.

For broader context on how Portugal compares with other residency-by-investment destinations, you can explore our 2025 European Golden Visa comparison and our overview of the best Portugal Golden Visa funds.