Claure Group acquired an undisclosed stake in eB Capital, a Brazilian private equity, infrastructure and real estate firm with about BRL 5 billion ($1 billion) in assets under management.
Claure Group is a $4 billion global investment firm founded by Eduardo Claure, who was born in Guatemala to Bolivian parents and has done plenty of business in Latin America throughout his nearly 30-year career as an executive and technology investor, operator and entrepreneur. As CEO of Softbank International, he launched the firm’s first Latin American fund in 2019 with $8 billion, making it the largest venture capital fund in the region at the time. Claure Group’s portfolio includes online fast fashion retailer Shein, which recently named Claire as group vice chairman. Earlier this year he led a major expansion of Shein’s manufacturing base in Brazil in a bid to diversity the retailer’s supply chain away from China.
“This investment further solidifies Claure Group’s belief in Brazil, a country with tremendous opportunities ahead,” said Claure. Reasons to believe in Brazil include the country’s standing as a global food and commodities powerhouse, its status as an emerging green power and ongoing tax reforms that will make it a more attractive destination for capital, he added.
São Paulo-based eB Capital’s strategy is to invest in companies that fill gaps in high-growth segments in Brazil. The firm’s portfolio includes Alloha Fibra, a leading independent fiber optic provider; Loja do Mecânico, the largest e-commerce business serving the tool and machinery market in Latin America; trade school chain Proz; diagnostics chains Hilab; and Blue Health, a provider of medical products and devices.
eB Capital’s areas of focus include ESG. The firm is preparing to launch the second investment fund focused on climate in Brazil and has already built a plastics recycling platform through investments in Green PCR and Global PET.
eB Capital was founded in 2017 by Eduardo Sirotsky Melzer, Luciana Antonini Ribeiro and Pedro Parente. Melzer is the third generation of the family that controls Brazilian media conglomerate Grupo RBG, where he served as chairman and CEO. Away from the family business, he was founder and board member of Brazilian VC firm Igah Ventures before launching eB Capital. He will remain as the firm’s majority shareholder, with Claure’s ownership share described as “significant.”
“The arrival of Marcelo Claure represents a new, exciting chapter in eB Capital’s story and validates the work we have been doing to grow the firm,” Melzer said. Marcelo’s belief in the Brazilian market and his impressive career as an investor, entrepreneur and executive at large global companies will be highly beneficial to our go-forward strategy and the management of our current and future portfolio, besides helping us discover new investment opportunities.”
Melzer will also continue to serve as eB Capital’s CEO. Parente, who co-founded the firm and serves as its chairman, has 45 years of business experience in the public and private sector, including leading the advisory board of the national bank, Banco do Brasil, and of the national savings bank, Caixa Econômica Federal; acting as president of the Brazilian division of Missouri-based food producer Bunge; and serving as global president of Brazil-based food giant BRF.
eB Capital Founding Partner Ribeiro started out as a lawyer before branching out into investing, entrepreneurship and environmentalism. In addition to serving on several company boards and investment committees, she is chairwoman at Brazil Climate Summit. “I’m very excited about partnering with [Claure],” she said. “We have a shared vision of betting on transformational opportunities for Brazil across a wide range of sectors, including the climate agenda, in which our country can be a protagonist.”
