Grain Management-Backed Conexao Group Welcomes Denis Marcel Ferreira as New CEO
São Paulo, S.P. (January 17, 2022)
Triple Play Brasil Participações S.A. (“Conexão Group”), backed by Grain Management, LLC (“Grain”), announced Denis Marcel Ferreira has been named CEO. Mr. Ferreira will take over from retiring CEO and board member Gilbert Minionis, effective January 17, 2022.
Mr. Minionis has served as CEO of Conexão Group since its founding in 2015, leading its expansion from one operation in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte with approximately 93,000 subscribers to a presence in over 100 municipalities and approximately 460,000 subscribers as of September 30, 2021. He was instrumental in leading Conexão Group’s transformation into a leading FTTH broadband-focused company in the marketplace through organic expansion and 14 strategic acquisitions.
Mr. Ferreira has more than 20 years of senior management experience in the telecom sector focused on fiber-optic and high-bandwidth solutions. Before joining Conexão Group, he was the Head of TIM’s Residential Solutions (“TIM Live”), the business unit that provides fixed ultra-broadband (FTTH and fiber to the cabinet), mobile residential broadband and telephony services. At TIM Live, he led all aspects of marketing, sales, operations, finance and planning, organically growing revenues and customer base substantially over his four-year tenure. Mr. Ferreira also held leadership positions in the telecom and management consulting industries, including roles at Vivo, GVT, and Claro, where he had a strong track record of growth acceleration. He started his career as a management consultant at Accenture, Gemini Consulting and Siemens Telecommunications. Mr. Ferreira holds an MBA from SDA Bocconi School of Management, Specialization in Business Administration (CEAG) from Fundação Getúlio Vargas/Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo and a BS in Computer Science from the Universidade de São Paulo Campus de São Carlos.
“Since the beginning of our investment, it has been a great pleasure partnering with Gilbert, whose leadership and strategic vision were key to developing Conexão Group into the exceptional business it is today. We thank Gilbert for his many contributions and guidance during this orderly transition and for assisting us in setting this team up for future success. We wish him the best as he looks to take on new family and professional endeavors,” said Ricardo Rodriguez, Conexão Group’s Chairman of the Board and a Grain Principal. “Denis is an accomplished operator with the right skills and experience to build upon Conexão Group’s momentum and lead the business in its next phase of expansion. We are confident that Denis will elevate our already-strong leadership team and will be a highly capable successor to Gilbert. Grain looks forward to partnering with Denis as Conexão Group pursues its strategic initiatives while continuing to strive for excellence in serving its current and future customers.”
“I am very excited to be joining the Conexão Group team during a time of tremendous opportunity,” said Mr. Ferreira. “I believe that Conexão Group is well positioned to take advantage of the many growth prospects in the Brazilian broadband market.”
About Conexão Group
Conexão Group provides broadband services using primarily fiber to the home technology to approximately 438,000 homes and 22,000 business customers throughout six states in Brazil in the Northeast (Rio Grande do Norte, Paraiba, Ceará and Bahia) and Southeast (Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais) as of September 30, 2021. Conexão Group operates multiple brands including, CABO Telecom, Multiplay, Conexão, Outcenter, StarWeb among others.
Conexão Group is proud of its superior customer experience and decades worth of cutting-edge technology in providing broadband connectivity, subscription TV, telephone services and IT Corporate Services. Its owned infrastructure spans over 14,000 kilometers (approximately 8,700 fiber route miles)
of fiber optic and high-tier HFC networks, reaching over 1.6 million homes and businesses. For more information, visit www.grupoconexao.com.br.
About Grain Management
Grain Management, LLC is a leading global investment firm that focuses on broadband infrastructure and technology companies that connect the world to the information economy. Founded in 2007, Grain invests exclusively in the global telecommunications sector, employing a rigorous, data-based process buoyed by deep industry expertise to identify investment opportunities in key areas of telecommunications infrastructure, including fiber networks, wireless spectrum and cell towers. For more information, visit www.graingp.com.
Contacts:
Conexão Group
Maria Lygia Dias Von Sohsten
Chief Marketing Officer
Grain Management
Grain Public Relations
