Atlantica Hotels, the largest privately held hospitality company in South America, on Wednesday announced the appointment of Eduardo Giestas as its new president and Chief Executive Officer effective January 2017.
Giestas is currently president of Universidade Anhembi Morumbi and FMU at Laureate Brasil, where he has been since January 2012. He started his professional life in the consumer goods industry working for Nestlé and Procter & Gamble. After that, he joined A.T. Kearney and worked in the consulting industry for six years in a multitude of industries on functionally diversified projects. Giestas then moved to the telecom sector working for Claro throughout its consolidation phase in Brazil. Prior to Laureate, he acted as the CEO of Sauipe S.A., the largest complex of hotels and resorts in South America, leading its restructuring phase, where he remained as a board member after leaving his executive position.
As part of a planned succession, Paul Sistare, founder of Atlantica and one of its largest investors, becomes chairman of the company. Juan Carlos Duque, currently acting president of Atlantica, and Doug Geoga, former president of Hyatt Corp. and chairman of Extended Stay America, both continuing investors in the company, will continue to assist Waldemar Szlezak of Soros Fund Management, which manages Quantum Strategic Partners Ltd., a private investment fund and the principal investor in Atlantica, in supporting Giestas in his new leadership role. The family of Nicholas Pritzker, through Tao Capital Partners, will also continue its investment in the company and board participation.
As one of the pioneers of the hotel industry in Brazil, Sistare believes that this is an important commitment to Atlantica’s clients and employees as well as for its business. “I have led the company for 20 years, a period during which we achieved exceptional levels of growth,” he said. “Today, we are a reference point in the hotel industry worldwide. “The arrival of Eduardo will allow Atlantica to reach a new level of achievement. He’s without doubt the ideal executive for the company to realize a very successful future.”
“Eduardo’s appointment fulfills one of the key elements of our plan for Atlantica’s future,” Duque added. “We are very excited with what he brings to the company, including his ability to lead teams and his excellence in company management as well as the invaluable hotel industry experience that he gained when he led Costa do Sauípe Resorts.”
Geoga added, “Our investment in Atlantica recognized that, given the excellent reputation of the company and the capabilities of its senior management team, Atlantica has the potential for significant growth in its current business and a number of related businesses. Eduardo’s breadth of experience will make that growth possible.”