Founder of Brazil’s CVC to invest $15 million, new CEO picked

SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian travel operator CVC said on Friday it has reached an agreement with its founder for a 75 million reais ($15.13 million) investment in the company, as well as electing a new chief executive officer.

CVC founder Guilherme Paulus will make the investment through “an eventual and future” primary share offering to be carried out within 60 days, CVC said in a securities filing.

Under the terms of the agreement, the company’s founder will pay up to 3 reais per share, but Paulus’s investment will not impact the pricing of the offering for other investors. The offering must raise at least 300 million reais in total, including subscription bonuses, CVC added.

The announcement follows CVC’s debt restructuring deal in March with bondholders to cut gross debt, which entailed an obligation for a capital increase of at least 125 million reais ($25.2 million) by November.

The Sao Paulo-based firm also announced it has elected Fabio Godinho as chief executive to replace Leonel Andrade, who resigned last week after more than three years in the post.

Godinho, who previously worked as an executive in CVC when Paulus controlled it, was CEO of hotel chain Grupo Wish and previously held the same executive role with airline WebJet, both owned at the time by Paulus.

“The executive has more than 20 years of experience in the market, combining expertise in the tourism and hospitality sectors with strategic business management,” the firm said in the filing.

Last year, CVC raised 403 million reais in a share offering priced at a sharp discount to closing prices, citing at the time the need for capital amid a gradual recovery in the tourism industry following the COVID-19 pandemic.

($1 = 4.9748 reais)