General Atlantic Appoints Martin Escobari, Managing Director in Brazil

USA - English

• Latin America - español

GREENWICH, Conn. and SAO PAULO, Jan. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- General Atlantic LLC ("GA"), a leading global growth equity firm, today announced that Martin Escobari has joined the firm as a managing director and head of its Sao Paulo, Brazil office and Latin American investing program. Mr. Escobari will lead GA's investment activity in Latin America as part of the firm's continued strategy to invest in growth companies in this high growth region. To date, GA has invested more than $1 billion in Latin American growth companies.

"We are pleased to welcome Martin to our global team of investment professionals as head of our Sao Paulo office," said William Ford, CEO of General Atlantic. Martin's background, expertise and leadership will be a significant addition to our capabilities in this important region of the world."

Mr. Escobari commented, "I have long admired General Atlantic and its unique approach to building regional expertise and helping growth companies grow globally. I look forward to continuing to expand GA's activity across Latin America and I also look forward to being an active partner in GA's global team." 

Rene Kern, Managing Director of General Atlantic added, "Latin America continues to represent great potential for partnering with growth companies, and we are prepared to continue building on the strong position GA has established in Latin America since 2000. We are pleased to have Martin join our global team and head up our efforts in Latin America."

Mr. Escobari was previously a managing director with Advent International, which he joined as an operating partner in 2007. Mr. Escobari led Advent's successful investment in Cetip, Latin America's largest central depository for private securities and OTC derivatives. Previously, Mr. Escobari was co-founder of Submarino.com, a leading Brazilian online retailer, where he was CFO and VP of Corporate Development.

Mr. Escobari graduated from Harvard College and joined the Boston Consulting Group as an associate. He then received his MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Founded in 1980, GA manages approximately $17 billion, investing more than $2 billion per year in growth companies globally. Since it first opened an office in Sao Paulo in 2000 to support its portfolio companies, General Atlantic has invested more than $1 billion in Latin American growth companies, including its most recent partnership with Grupo Sura to purchase the Latin American pension and wealth management assets of ING creating the largest wealth management firm in the region. Other current and prior portfolio companies include the BM&FBovespa, Grupo Linx, Peixe Urbano and Qualicorp in Brazil and MercadoLibre in Argentina.

About General Atlantic

GENERAL ATLANTIC is a leading global growth equity firm providing capital and strategic support for growth companies. GA combines a collaborative global approach, sector specific expertise, long-term investment horizon and a deep understanding of growth drivers to partner with great management and build exceptional businesses worldwide. Established in 1980, GA manages approximately $17 billion in capital and has more than 75 investment professionals based in Greenwich, New York, Palo Alto, London, Dusseldorf, Hong Kong, Beijing, Mumbai and Sao Paulo. For further information and a listing of GA's public and private portfolio companies, see www.generalatlantic.com.

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SOURCE General Atlantic LLC