IMC McDonald’s
A seat on the board of IMC, the master franchisee of Pizza Hut and KFC and owner of Viena and Frango Assado, will be filled by Paulo Camargo, former CEO of McDonald’s Brazil and current CEO of Espaçolaser, following his nomination by the IMC board.
The decision to appoint Paulo will be voted on during the shareholders’ meeting on April 28. Lincoln Martins, the CEO of Grupo Sforza and son of businessman Carlos Wizard, who has been a director since 2019, will be replaced by Paulo on the board.
The Martins family, the second-largest shareholder in IMC with 9.3% of the company’s capital, will no longer have a representative on the board, which is composed of seven members.
According to a source familiar with the matter, Paulo’s appointment is expected to assist IMC in its expansion strategy, as he has significant experience in the restaurant and franchise sector.
The source stated that Paulo’s knowledge and achievements in the industry, including his successful turnaround at McDonald’s, will be valuable assets to the company. Paulo took over as CEO of Espaçolaser in August 2022, succeeding founder Paulo Morais.
Prior to this, he spent over eleven years at McDonald’s Brazil, six of which were as CEO. He has also worked for Pepsico Restaurants International (later known as Yum Brands), the FASA Group, and Iron Mountain, an American software firm.
The change in the board comes as IMC is benefiting from a strategic plan that began when CEO Alexandre Santoro joined the company two years ago, and focused on three pillars: operational efficiency, financial discipline, and expansion.
The company has already managed to decrease its leverage from 3x to 1.5x, mainly by selling stores in Panama, re-profiling its debt with a R$200 million issue last month, and improving its margins with cost-cutting measures. IMC also expanded its store base in 2022, launching 30 KFC restaurants and 20 Pizza Hut.
This year, the company aims to maintain the same pace of openings. The CEO has stated that he sees potential for his four primary expansion platforms (Pizza Hut, KFC, Frango Assado, and EUA) to triple in size in the medium to long term. Currently, each platform generates revenues between R$650-R$850 million.
