Embraer’s Botelho Joins M&A Boutique

Mauricio Botelho, CEO of Embraer from 1995-2007, has acquired a 40% stake in Arsenal Financas. The boutique is the former corporate finance arm of Arsenal, whose asset management arm was sold to hedge fund Gavea Investimentos in September. “In the context that Brazil finds itself in today there are two areas that are going to see a tremendous amount of activity: infrastructure and retail,” Botelho tells LatinFinance. He points to the strong expected investments by the government and private sectors in everything from waste management to energy, and observes an expansion in real income by Brazil’s population that will inevitably fuel high consumption in the coming years. Still, there is no particular bias at the shop to a specific type of sector or M&A transaction, adds Botelho. The executive has paid an undisclosed amount for a 41% stake in Arsenal Financas. Another 51% is owned by co-founder Jose Eduardo Lacerda, a former Credit Suisse banker, while the remainder is held by other individuals. Botelho and Lacerda are joint managing partners of the boutique, which also has another 10 bankers. “The value we bring here is our independence and lack of bias other than providing a solution to our clients,” says Botelho, in a familiar claim by boutique bankers. “We don’t do financing or proprietary trading and we don’t have a fund,” he adds. The shop has executed more than 30 deals in the past 5 years and has several live mandates, says Botelho.