Sergio Barbosa

– Co-Head of Investment Banking; managed 30+ professionals. Reinforced credibility with boards and C-suites as a trusted strategic advisor through continued senior market engagement.

– Lead advisor on high-profile transactions across Pharmaceuticals (Human and Animal Health), Energy, Real Estate, Utilities and Consumer: Cosan (R$10bn strategic partnership), Petrobras (multiple asset disposals), Iguatemi (R$2.6bn and R$1.1 bn real estate acquisitions), CEDAE (strategic alternatives assessment), a leading fashion conglomerate (IPO / reverse IPO) and two significant pharmaceutical M&A processes.

– Transitioned to Ame Digital by shareholder mandate as CFO/CSO — with a path to CEO — to reposition it as Americanas' flagship fintech, modeled on the Mercado Pago / Mercado Livre dynamic: a high-growth, standalone financial services business embedded in the Americanas ecosystem.

– Americanas' Chapter 11 filing interrupted this repositioning mandate, requiring an immediate pivot: from strategic growth planning to making Ame financially viable as a fully standalone entity over a 24–36 month horizon.

– Elevated to Interim CEO: redefined the business model — prioritised and discontinued units by contribution margin, growth potential and funding requirements; identified and launched new revenue streams; designed a talent retention plan.

– Operational Turnaround: c. 50% workforce reduction; delivered positive net income and positive operating cash flows within the year.

– Finance Architecture: designed ALM, transitioned from IFRS to Central Bank accounting standards, built a new FP&A function, launched a Business Intelligence unit, restructured treasury and compliance.

– Regulatory: led constructive dialogue with BACEN throughout Chapter 11 for renewal of SCFI, IP and SEP fintech licences.

Brazil's leading omnichannel retail and e-commerce ecosystem (~USD 10bn market cap). – Reported directly to the CEOs with a dotted line to the Chairman; managed a team of 10 across M&A, strategy and innovation. Designed and led the Group's external growth strategy — structured as a strategic investment holding that deployed capital raised on public markets (equity follow-ons, bond issuances) to build a diversified portfolio of adjacent businesses.

– Built the corporate development function end-to-end: team, investment thesis, origination processes, due diligence frameworks, execution playbooks, post-acquisition synergy tracking and portfolio monitoring. Established advisory board-like governance structures for key portfolio companies, responsible for overseeing business evolution, synergy extraction and strategic milestones.

– Investment philosophy: acquire without integrating — each portfolio company retained its entrepreneurial DNA, talent, brands and capabilities, while benefiting from the Americanas ecosystem (customer base, data, distribution, liquidity). Strategic objective: build Ame Digital as Americanas' financial services arm, replicating the Mercado Pago / Mercado Livre model.

– Landmark corporate transaction: USD 10bn merger of Lojas Americanas with B2W, creating Americanas S.A., Brazil's leading omnichannel retailer (Jun. 2021). Portfolio: 15+ investments executed across Retail (Hortifruti, USD 500m), Fintech (Nexoos, Bit Capital), Consumer (Grupo Uni.Co), Technology (Skoob) and Energy (Vem JV with Vibra Energia).