When I launched the challenge to spin-off Sonae Capital in 2007, I was certain that I would find the management team and staff within the Group with the necessary motivation and skills to work with me and sustainably support the emergence of this new Sonae Capital.
These certainties are now realities, and today I find the required professionalism and motivation to ensure the good management of the current portfolio of businesses, and to continue the good practice of constantly launching new challenges.
The new Sonae Capital inevitably inherits a set of values and principles that are the cornerstone of the businesses that I lead and have led in the past. I continue to believe that good corporate governance practices, a constant readiness for change and the development of leadership skills, will sustain value creation.
A stable shareholder, together with a highly professional team, are the critical factors for Sonae Capital's success for its stakeholders. I am confident of the flexibility of the teams involved, which has been demonstrated by the dedicated and efficient manner in which they have led the businesses, and by their ability to manage change, always with more commitment and ambition.
This story is not exclusively mine. It is of all those who believe in this project and who share with me the determination to make it grow...
Belmiro Mendes de Azevedo, 2007