• The Chairman of Ezentis received his appointment together with two other directors at the III Sustainable Development Forum, held at New York's Harvard Club with Bill Clinton and Philippe Douste-Blazy in attendance.

Seville, 27 September 2011.- Manuel García-Durán, Chairman and CEO of Grupo Ezentis since 14 September, has been appointed director of Brasilinvest, a merchant bank for corporate clients offering a wide range of services including financial advice, bond issues, portfolio management, loan services, equity investment, etc. Its shareholders include leading business groups such as ABN Amro, Agip, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Banco Popular Español, Banco Santander, Bradesco, Dresdner Bank, Fiat, HSBC, Mercedes Benz, Nestlé, Seiko, Whirpool and Xerox.

The appointment took place at the III Sustainable Development Forum held yesterday at New York's Harvard Club, entitled "Brazil: The New Global Green Economy". The forum, chaired by Mario Garnero (Brasilinvest CEO) and sponsored by Fórum das Américas and the United Nations Association Brazil, draws leading figures from the world of business, finance and cooperation to discuss the importance of the green economy in the context of the sustainability of business, politics and society. Participants in this year's forum have included Michel Terner, Vice President of Brazil and Bill Clinton, former US president.

Together with García-Durán, the III Sustainable Development Forum also saw the appointment of Brasilinvest directors Carlos Moreira, Founder and CEO of Wisekey, a world leader in digital security, and Philippe Douste-Blazy, former French minister of culture and foreign affairs and current Chairman of UNITAID, an organisation founded to stop the spread of AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

About Brasilinvest

The Brasilinvest Group was founded in 1975 by business leader Mario Garnero as Brazil's first private development agency. Since its founding, Brasilinvest has adopted the role of a classic "banque d'affaires", a modern-day merchant bank. Together with 80 partners in 16 countries, Brasilinvest has already coordinated projects in excess of USD 4 billion, both in Brazil and abroad.

Over its 36 years, it has coordinated numerous economic development and business consulting projects. These include the nationalisation of ITT-Standard Electric and NEC in the 1980s and the organisation of the new shareholder structure of Cofap and Bombril in the early 1990s. The Group has played a key role in the restructuring of FIAT's shareholder list and in the creation of a leasing unit for Volkswagen do Brasil and a rent-a-car unit for VARIG and Volkswagen. In agribusiness, Brasilinvest has aided the industrial set-up of Boehringer in Suape, state of Pernambuco. The Group has taken an active part in initiatives such as Celupa (Companhia Industrial de Celulose e Papel Guaíba) and Melitta. Brasilinvest is also known for its success story in developing real estate projects, having constructed more than 3,700,000 square metres of buildings and other real estate facilities.

Brasilinvest has always strengthened its international profile with members from the four corners of the globe on its Advisory Board. The Group has also taken the lead with debates on the effects of globalisation and its impact on the Brazilian market by organising, together with Fórum das Américas, important conferences focused on investment in Brazil. These discussions have taken place in Salzburg (Austria), Monaco and New York.

In addition, Brasilinvest has carried out initiatives geared towards the Asian market, fostering trade and capital flows by opening a field office in Beijing. Brasilinvest is currently a leader in structuring, developing, implementing and marketing projects and businesses in the sectors of real estate, high technology, environment, agribusiness, energy, health, infrastructure and telecommunications, fundraising and investment guidance with international investors.

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