| | | Luciana de Oliveira Cezar Coelho and Fernando Prezzotto Join Verde’s Board of Directors
Sept 13, 2022
Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Verde AgriTech Ltd (TSX: “NPK”) (“OTCMKTS: “VNPKF“) (the “Company”) is pleased to announce the appointment of Luciana de Oliveira Cezar Coelho and Fernando Prezzotto (the “Directors”) to its Board of Directors (the “Board”).
“As we start a carefully planned renewal of the Board, we welcome Mrs. Oliveira Cezar Coelho and Mr. Prezzotto, whose agricultural sector experience and deep understanding of Brazil will further strengthen Verde’s Board”, declared Verde’s Director, Renato Gomes.
“As someone with a career devoted to Brazilian agriculture and relevant technology, I am pleased to join Verde AgriTech because its mission of supplying a superior local source of potash and micronutrients to farmers is something I strongly believe in and know that I can add value to”, commented Fernando Prezzotto.
“I am pleased to be the first woman to join the Board of Verde. As a board member at Raízen, Brazil’s largest agricultural producer by land coverage, I know very well the importance of fertilizers to agriculture’s supply chain. Verde is ideally positioned to be Brazil’s leader in its segment of that market and I will do my best to ensure that happens”, proclaimed Luciana Oliveira Cezar Coelho.
“At Verde, we know that there is strength in diversity, a principle that we adopt across all levels of the Company, from our mine pits to our executives. Mrs. Oliveira Cezar Coelho is the the first female director of the Board, representing an important step toward gender equality. Today, approximately 60% of the administrative staff, including corporate, marketing, finance and human resources, are women. The percentage of women in leadership positions, such as managers and coordinators, is 41%. Overall, including more physically demanding mine and plant laborers, women comprise 31% of all Verde’s employees, compared to a global industry average of 8% to 17% [1]”, celebrated Verde’s Founder, President & CEO, Cristiano Veloso.
The Board is now composed of four independent directors, Alysson Paolinelli, Fernando Prezzotto, Luciana de Oliveira Cezar Coelho and Renato Gomes, with Mr. Veloso as sole executive director.
The Board will soon update the composition of the Audit, Compensation, Corporate Governance and Nominating committees.
About Luciana de Oliveira Cezar Coelho
Mrs. Oliveira Cezar Coelho is the founding and managing partner of STS GAEA Capital and board member in multiple companies with billion-plus market valuation. She has over 20 years of experience in mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring, debt and equity capital markets, financial restructuring and private equity investment.
Before founding STS GAEA in 2013, Mrs. Oliveira Cezar Coelho was a founding partner of STK Capital, an asset management company focused on public equities, and of Virtus BR Partners, a financial advisory boutique. Prior to Virtus, Mrs. Oliveira Cezar Coelho’s experiences include: Managing Director responsible for the coverage of clients in the industrial segment at Banco Santander; Managing Director of the industrials and conglomerates advisory group at ABN Amro; Vice President in the investment banking division of Merrill Lynch in São Paulo and in the merger and acquisitions group of Merrill Lynch in New York; Associate in the merger and acquisitions group of Lehman Brothers in New York.
Currently, Mrs. Oliveira Cezar Coelho is also a member of the Board of Directors and of the Audit Committee of Raízen S.A., an energy company that produces sugarcane and ethanol, also acting in fuel distribution, renewable energy generation, and lubricants sectors, being the second largest fuel distribution company in Brazil [2]; member of the Board of Directors and of the Audit & Risk Committee of Energisa S.A., a publicly traded holding company, that operates in the generation and commercialization of electricity in Brazil, in addition to being the fifth largest energy distribution group in the country in number of clients [3]; member of the Board of Directors of Restoque S.A., a Brazilian retail company focused on the sale of high-end clothing, accessories, and cosmetics, with stores divided into six brands [4]; member of the Board of Directors of LPS Brasil S.A. (Lopes), Brazilian company that provides services in the real estates sector, such as brokerage and consultancy for projects and finance [5]; and member of the Harvard Global Advisory Council.
She is also co-founder of the Instituto República.org, co-founder and vice president of the Instituto Vassouras Cultural, member of the Center for Debate of Public Policy (CDPP), member of the Executive Committee of Prep – Program – Lemann Foundation, member of the Women Corporate Directors (WCD) and certified for membership of Fiscal Committee by the Brazilian Institute of Corporate Governance (IBGC). Previously, she served as a member of the Board of Directors of Norte Energia S.A. (Belo Monte Hydroelectric Complex), Entalpia Participações S.A. (Unicoba) and Instituto República.org.
Mrs. Oliveira Cezar Coelho has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), a Master’s degree in Economics from the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-RJ), and a Ph.D. in Economics in the fields of Finance, Game Theory and Contract Theory from Harvard University.
About Fernando Prezzotto
Fernando João Prezzotto is a serial entrepreneur focused on innovative solutions for agribusiness. In 2021 he was elected by Ernst & Young the entrepreneur of the year in Brazil. He is the founder and CEO of SEMPRE AgTech, focused on the genetic improvement of plants, on the research of transgenic events and on the creation of eco-friendly biopesticides with RNAi technology and other gene editing techniques. It operates mainly in Brazil and in some South American countries, having a significant share in the corn hybrids market. [6] He is also the founder and CEO of Produce, a company that provides agricultural inputs and technical services to producers of all crops, with over 3,800 sales consultants throughout Brazil. [7] Mr. Prezzoto acts as a mentor and entrepreneur of Endeavor, [8] an acceleration network for companies, present in over 40 markets around the world. He is an angel investor in multiple startups, with a focus on emerging markets. In addition to his corporate activities, Mr. Prezzoto is also a farmer with ongoing agricultural production.
Mr. Prezzotto holds a degree in Business Administration, with specializations from Harvard Business School, University of California and Tel Aviv University.
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