After leading the main period of XP Investimentos’ foray into share offerings aimed at retail and placing sport in the investment bank’s strategies, Pedro Mesquita has just opened his own management company. Exa Capital, a reference to “excellence in allocation”, already occupies the space that belonged to Gávea in Itaim Bibi, with a team of 10 people and two other executive partners.
Mesquita, who was head of XP’s IB, may have his former house as a minority shareholder, Pipeline found. The agreement is in the final stages so that the company has the option to purchase a stake. He does not comment on the corporate structure (XP did not comment either), but he talks about the performance of the new house.
“The big dream is to be a relevant Brazilian alternative manager. I joke here that we are going to be the Brazilian Blackstone because there are a lot of projects, a lot of good businesses that need partners, that need capital, and that the market still doesn’t supply”, says the CEO and founder of Exa.
The house has an ambitious goal for a market that is more restrictive in funding, which makes the choice of assets and distribution even more decisive. Exa wants to reach R$5 billion under management in two years.
- Ronaldo buys Cruzeiro and will inject R$400 million
- XP raises half of the target in football funds
Engaged in SAF projects as a financial advisor and currently a member of Cruzeiro’s advisory board, Mesquita has already made Exa’s first deal in football. With a family & friends fund, Exa is one of the investors in Liga Forte União – with a percentage of the stake held by the manager LCP, just as XP did through a retail vehicle and as General Atlantic did through its own vehicle. .
“It will be an important line of business but not the only one. In this vertical, we will look not only at sports but also at entertainment, with major events, arenas and international operations related to clubs”, says Mesquita, who engaged his bank clients on trips to the Super Bowl and GP paddocks around the world.
The head of this area at Exa is partner Rodrigo Rincón, a former associate at Pátria. Just like the debut FIP in football, the manager wants to work with private equity in the format of club deals – with a healthcare asset in its sights. “We are going to work on two fronts here, one strong institutional and the other retail, with products with different levels of risk. In agriculture, for example, we will start with Fiagro, for retail distribution”, says Mesquita.
Exa plans its first Fiagro for this first semester. On this front, the responsible partner is Fabio Fanti, who was head of structured finance for agribusiness at Itaú BBA. Infrastructure and real estate should also enter the portfolio at some point, says the CEO.
To access the Pipeline news channel on WhatsApp click here
