MZ Announces Board of Directors

NEW YORK and SAO PAULO, April 26 /PRNewswire/ -- MZ Consult ("MZ" or the "Company"), a leading global integrated investor relations, technology, financial services and communications consulting firm ("one-stop-shop" model), announced today the five members of its Board of Directors. MZ shareholders - a group of 28 operating partners (71%) and Jardim Botanico Investimentos (29%) - have jointly decided to appoint three independent members. Additionally, two Advisory Council Members were also designated.

"I am delighted and honored that these extraordinary individuals, with such diverse backgrounds, are making this commitment to the future of MZ," said the Company's CEO, Rodolfo Zabisky. "Their wealth of experience and knowledge will add greatly to the Company's expanding efforts to become the best independent firm in financial communication and applied IT for capital markets worldwide, with focus and leadership in emerging markets, with a solid structure to capitalize in the new cycle of growth and IPO's from those regions."

Carlos Kokron (Independent Board Member): Carlos has been working with young and growth stage companies as a VC/PE investment professional in Latin America and the United States for the past twelve years. He is currently a member of the Strategic Council to Stratus Group's Growth Capital funds and has been a Board Director of companies such as Alog Datacenters and Senior Solution. Previously Kokron was Managing Director for Intel Capital in LatAm and Director of Intel Capital for the Southwest U.S. Earlier he held executive positions at Intel Brasil and at Unocal 76 (now Chevron) in California. Kokron holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering and has earned his MBA from the Haas School of Business at U.C. Berkeley.

Enzo Villani (Independent Board Member): Enzo is President and CEO of Villani Advisors (VC/PE) since 2009. Before that he was Founding Member, EVP & Chief Strategy Officer of DF King Worldwide (formerly SAGE Holdings – 2006 to 2009) and Managing Director of Products and Strategy at The NASDAQ Stock Market (2001 – 2006). Enzo was also CEO and co-founder of Rivet Integrated Marketing (1998 – 2001) and Director of Internet Development of Integrated Office Solutions (1996 – 1998). He is currently a member of the advisory board and investor in MUNCmedia, CTN Digital, World Market Media and CloudNow. He has a degree in Communications from Iona College and an MBA from the Johnson School of Management at Cornell University.

Jose Luiz Osorio (Board Member): Jose Luiz is a founding shareholder of Jardim Botanico Investimentos and member of the Center for Corporate Governance and Performance Advisory Board at Yale University. His experience includes executive positions in such banks as Lehman Brothers (Managing Director for Brazil), Banco Icatu (partner in charge of Investment Banking), Banco Garantia and Bank Boston, as well as president of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Brazil (CVM) from 2000 to 2002 and director-superintendent of BNDESPar in 1999. He is a board Member of Banco Triangulo (2007-today) and Elba Equipamentos e Servicos (2010-today). Jose Luiz holds a B.S. degree from PUC-RJ in Civil Engineering and an MSc in Civil Engineering from Stanford University.

Julian Herbstein (Independent Board Member): Julian is currently CEO of Asia for International Capital Group (Hong Kong) and was previously one of the founders of Beta Fund Management, an RMB private equity fund based in Beijing. His experience includes executive positions at Soros Fund Management (principal of private equity in New York and general manager of a portfolio company in Sydney), One & Only Resorts (London), govWorks (New York), NewsCorp (Miami, Santiago and Buenos Aires) and Lazard Freres (New York). Julian holds a B.A. degree in Government from Harvard University and an MBA from Stanford Business School.

Rodolfo Zabisky (Chairman of the Board): Rodolfo holds a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from IMT-Maua and an MBA from the FGV-SP and Columbia Business School. In 1995 his MBA team was a Top 5 finalist of the Global International Entrepreneurial Challenge of MOOT CORP (University of Texas at Austin). Rodolfo founded MZ in November 1999 and currently also serves as its Chief Executive Officer. In 2007 MZ was awarded the entrepreneur company of the year by both Endeavor-Exame PME (innovation) and FGV-PEGN (growth) programs. Prior to MZ he served in various capacities for 18 years at the Odebrecht Group, focusing on business planning, investor relations and structured finance.

"I am very enthusiastic about MZ's business model and its prospects for growth, both organically and through acquisitions. Moreover, the potential for replicating this model in other markets is highly promising. I believe that a winning business model and a highly focused and motivated team, combined with disciplined management of growth, is a recipe for investments with high return potential," said Jose Luiz Osorio, MZ's board member.

Peter Jancso (Advisory Board Member): Peter has been a fund manager and partner of Jardim Botanico Investimentos since 2007 and Corporate Finance professor at the Business School of Sao Paulo (BSP). Previously he served as Finance, Administration, HR and IT Officer in Gold Nutrition (2006 - 2007) and Senior Vice-President of Stern Stewart (1998 - 2005). He is also a Board Member of Bio Genesis, the holding company controlling SuperBAC, a leading biotech firm in Brazil. Peter holds a degree in Naval Engineering (USP) and MBA in Finance and Accounting (Beta Kappa Sigma) from William E. Simon Business School at University of Rochester.

Eduardo Ferreira (Advisory Board Member): Eduardo has been a partner of Alcantilado Consultoria (financial services sector) since 2008 and partner of Dynamo Venture Capital since 1999, responsible for investments origination, structuring, monitoring and divesture. He is also an advisor to Jardim Botanico Investimentos for the origination and structuring of investments. Former Investment Manager for Valia (Vale's pension fund). Eduardo has an economics degree from UFRJ and MBA from IAG-PUC/RJ.

On December 19, 2009, MZ announced the creation of "MZ-CCG Global", a joint venture with CCG Investor Relations (www.ccgir.com), a leading global investor relations and strategic communications consulting firm, in business for more than 30 years and with operations mainly in the United States, Israel and China. MZ-CCG Global began with a solid base of more than 380 clients across 20 countries and a local presence in major investment centers such as New York, Sao Paulo, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tel Aviv and Frankfurt. With MZ-CCG Global, new strategic IR/PR services are being offered to MZ's existing clients. CCG is also offering MZ's exclusive integrated technology, database and consulting platform to its clients.

For further information, please contact Amanda Munhoz, email: [email protected], phone: +1 (212) 813-2975.

About MZ Consult: MZ (www.mz-ir.com) is a leading global integrated investor relations ("IR"), technology, financial services and communications consulting firm. Established in 1999, MZ has revolutionized the market by focusing on innovation and customized client service with its unique "one-stop-shop" IR model. With offices in New York and Sao Paulo, MZ currently has 210 professionals serving more than 300 clients in seven countries. The Company's services include: structuring companies for IPOs; planning and implementing global investor relations programs; training; market intelligence (value creation, sector analysis, investor targeting, shareholder base and market expectation management); business and financial communications consulting. MZ also offers three innovative and exclusive programs worldwide: IR Global Rankings (www.irglobalrankings.com), Exemplary Disclosure (www.exemplarydisclosure.com) and Online General Meetings (www.onlinegeneralmeetings.com).

SOURCE MZ Consult