Company
Casaforte is a private equity fund manager whose mission is to generate superior absolute returns for its clients through investments in companies managed actively by our team.
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Founded in 2009, its team is composed of professionals with solid and successful experiences in private equity, corporate finance, strategic consulting, and corporate management.
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Since its foundation, Casaforte originates and manages sustainable investments in the sectors of food & beverage, renewable power generation, mining, and chemical, and consolidated itself as a fund manager with a portfolio of companies and projects which stand out in their respective markets.
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Casaforte has more than 100 individual and institutional investors which invest through Participation Investments Funds (FIP) and other investment vehicles with pre-defined strategies.
Our Values
Ethics
Meritocracy
Focus on Results
Excellence
Team work
Sustainability
Team
FERNANDO BUARQUE
Partner
Founding partner, has extensive experience in management of private equity funds and of engineering projects. Fernando is the managing director, responsible for the management of Solar Funds I and II and other investment vehicles. Acts directly in the management of the investments as a Director of the investment companies, responsible for the commercialization of power, management of project development, financing, construction and operation of the projects.
Previously, Fernando was a partner and the managing director responsible for the private equity business at Rio Bravo from 2001 to 2008. Before 2001, he designed and managed several engineering projects in Brazil, with focus on airport infrastructure.
Fernando graduated as an aeronautical infrastructure engineer in Instituto Tecnológico da Aeronáutica (ITA) and earned a master degree in Project Management at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST).
KRISTOPHER DOWLIN
Partner
Kristopher is a partner with solid experience in private equity fund management and management consulting. Kristopher is a Director and is responsible for the structuring, fund raising, and commercialization of power for centralized generation projects. Is part of the team responsible for the structuring and fund raising for the funds FIP IE Solar I and II, and is a member of the funds’ Investment Committees. Acts directly in the management of the investments as a Director of the investment companies.
Prior to Casaforte, was an executive at investment banks Morgan Stanley, Wasserstein, Perella & Co. and Kleinwort Benson, originating and executing M&A and equity capital market transactions for utility and energy companies in the US and Brazil.
Kristopher graduated with honors in economics from Vassar College.
MARCELO REBOUÇAS
Partner
Marcelo is a founding partner of Casaforte with solid experience in private equity fund management, business administration and management consulting. He is member of Casaforte Board of Directors.
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At Casaforte, he was the Operations Director, member of Investment Commitees and managed the implementation of several renewable power projects. In management consulting, he was an executive at Accenture and Unisys in Brazil and Mexico. He led projects in the retail and industrial goods sectors in the areas of strategy, e-commerce, logistics and operations.
Marcelo graduated with honors in Computer Engineering from Instituto Tecnológico da Aeronáutica (ITA) and earned an MBS degree at Warwick Business School.
PEDRO MAGALHÃES
Partner
Founding partner of Casaforte, with solid experience in the management of private equity funds and consumer goods companies. Pedro is director of Casaforte Investimentos and CFO of ebba. After participating in the acquisition of Maguary and its merge with Dafruta, Pedro was designated to advise the CEO in the integration process. Later he became the ebba’s CFO, position he still holds. In this period, he accumulated extensive experience in corporate management and was one of the leaders of the business growth and value addition.
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Before joining Casaforte, he was partner and fund manager in the Rio Bravo private equity team.
Pedro graduated in Business Administration from the University of Pernambuco (UPE) and earned a MBA degree in Financial Management and Controllership from Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV).
ROBERTO CABRAL DE MELO
Partner
Founding partner of Casaforte, Roberto has relevant experience in private equity investment management, M&A, and strategic consulting. He is a director of Casaforte Investimentos and managing director of Casaforte Mineração, where he leads the development of all projects in the mining sector. He has worked on the origination and development of the titanium project in Floresta/PE, including geological research, technology development, feasibility study, regulatory processes, environmental studies, tax incentives, and financing.
Before joining Casaforte, he was part of the private equity team of Rio Bravo and worked as management consultant with McKinsey and Bain and in the corporate finance teams of Kleinwort Benson and Unibanco.
Roberto has an Economics degree from IBMEC Business School RJ.
RAFAEL MOURA
Controller
He started his career at Casaforte in 2010 as an administrative-financial analyst. Since then, Rafael has been expanding his responsibilities, becoming the main person responsible for the administrative-financial and back office operations of Casaforte Investimentos, Casaforte Energia, Casaforte Minérios, as well as some investee companies.
Rafael graduated with distinction in Business Administration from the University of Pernambuco (UPE), he holds a degree in Accounting from the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), and completed his MBA in Cost Management and Controllership from the University of Pernambuco (UPE).
LORENA ROSSI
Partner
Lorena Rossi is a partner at Casaforte Investimentos, a member of the Solar Funds I and II management team and director of the Invested Companies. Lorena is responsible for raising project debt with banks and is directly involved in the structuring, contracting, development, and implementation of the Funds’ solar projects. In her 10 years career, she has accumulated solid experience in financial valuation for mergers and acquisitions, valuation of intangible assets for accounting purposes and economic valuations used in financial reports, related to the fair value of investments.
Prior to Casaforte, she was part of the Transaction Advisory Services team at EY, where she participated in the valuation of companies in various sectors, such as education, consumer goods, logistics, dealerships, real estate, among others.
Lorena graduated in Economics from the Federal University of Pernambuco and completed her MBA at Fundação Getúlio Vargas.