Chapter 1 – Corporate Profile
History
Espírito Santo Investment Bank - Brasil (BESI Brasil) is an investment bank, which has been present in Brazil for 13 years. Controlled by BES Investimento – Lisboa, of the traditional Banco Espírito Santo Group (80%) and Banco Bradesco S.A (20%), BESI Brasil provides financial advisory services in the project finance, capital market, treasury, risk management, structured operation, privatization and merger and acquisition areas. It also offers credit for transactions related to investment banking activities, as well as operating in securities brokerage (through its subsidiary BES Securities), asset management (through its subsidiary BESAF), wealth management (through its subsidiary BES DTVM) and private equity (through 2bCapital, in association with Banco Bradesco).
Outside the financial area, BESI Brasil holds an 11.11% interest in EBP – Estruturadora Brasileira de Projetos, whose mission is to design infrastructure projects for concessions and PPPs (public-private partnerships), projects that contribute to Brazil's social and economic development, thus creating investment opportunities for the private sector.
Banco Espírito Santo Group
The Banco Espírito Santo Group (GBES), present in Brazil for 38 years, has been operating for 145 years and is the Portuguese bank with the highest market cap and the country's second largest private financial institution. GBES is a diversified financial group, holding outstanding positions in retail banking, investment banking, private banking and asset management. It is also Portugal's most internationalized financial institution, maintaining a presence in the country's most important markets: Spain, France, Italy, the United States, Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde and Macau (China).
Banco Bradesco
The partnership between GBES and Banco Bradesco S.A. goes beyond the latter's indirect interest in BESI Brasil. GBES retains 1.6% of Banco Bradesco's voting capital, while Banco Bradesco holds 4.8% of Banco Espírito Santo in Portugal.