Dear clients, partners and other audiences who follow us,
Striving for transparency and considering the total integrity with which we have conducted our business since 2007, we want to clarify and highlight a few points in relation to the article entitled “Company linked to a director wins BNDES contracts”, published in the “O Estado de S. Paulo” newspaper.
The article makes serious conclusions when implying that G5 Partners has conflicts of interest in the contracts won for the privatization of Casa da Moeda, Infraero and Ceagesp due to the fact that Mr. Marcelo Serfaty is Chairman of the BNDES Board of Directors. The article states incorrect and incomplete information to induce the reader to error and draw false accusations regarding G5 Partners’ performance.
Aiming to clarify the information, we contacted the newspaper’s editor, in addition to sending an official statement on the matter, but the facts and arguments that are crucial for the correct understanding of the situation were simply ignored. After the article was released, we challenged several points and sent supporting documents, adjusting the article after it was released, but did not have the opportunity to reverse the distorted views and descriptions of the facts.
There are several points to be addressed, but most importantly, we want to clarify that G5 Partners has always acted independently, without conflicts of interest and with the highest level of integrity based on high ethical and moral principles. In fact, we take this opportunity to thank our clients and partners who contacted us after the article was published to reaffirm their confidence in our ethical and professional conduct.
For public clarification purposes, here are some of the points wrongly stated in the article:
1) The financial advisory contracts with the BNDES were signed by a consortium of companies, among which G5 Partners Consultoria e Participações Ltda. (“G5 Partners”) is part of.
2) Marcelo Serfaty is a partner at G5 Gestora de Recursos Ltda (“G5 Gestora”), which has G5 Partners as a minority shareholder in its share capital.
Marcelo Serfaty is not a partner or director of G5 Partners, nor was he when he was elected as a member of the BNDES Board of Directors.
From November 7, 2018 to October 31, 2019, Marcelo Serfaty symbolically held 1 (one) share of G5 Partners’ share capital (0.01% of total shares), which did not grant him any type of access to G5 Partners’ activities or clients and he never received any compensation or dividends from G5 Partners. This stake ended on October 31, 2019, and not on November 27, 2019, as the article implies. The latter date is when a contractual amendment was filed with the Commercial Registry of the State of São Paulo.
Article 36 of Law 8.934/1994 (which provides for the public registration of mercantile companies) and article 1.151 of the Brazilian Civil Code establishes that all documents requiring mandatory filing with the Commercial Registry must be filed within 30 (thirty) days from the date in which they were signed, being effective retroactively to signature date.
3) The article ignores the fact that the Board of Directors of the BNDES is not responsible for hiring financial advisers. All the contracts stated herein were granted through electronic bidding auctions in which the consortiums of companies, in which G5 Partners is part of, won by offering the lowest bidding prices, according to public information available on the BNDES website.
4) The article also omits the fact that (i) the Infraero bidding process was not carried out, or hired, by BNDES and that the approval for G5 Partners to participate in the bidding process, and the bidding process itself, took place on September 3, 2019, that is, prior to the date when Marcelo Serfaty was elected as a member of the Board of Directors of the BNDES. The electronic auction for the Casa da Moeda contract, on the other hand, took place on November 25, 2019, five days after Marcelo Serfaty was elected as a sitting board member, but the auction’s call notice and G5 Partners’ approval to participate in the bidding process took place prior to the date when Mr. Serfaty joined the Board of Directors of the BNDES.
We remain available to clarify any additional questions on the matter and thank you for your attention and trust.
Corrado Varoli, Marcelo Lajchter, Renato Klarnet, Nathaniel Wendling and André Benchimol