...Welcome to this very special webinar of Ânima. Samuel, who knows us, has raised his hand. Well, at the end, we're going to have Q&A. If, please, if you'd like to ask questions, register and raise your hands. I'll be controlling that. At the end, we're going to open up for everyone to ask their questions. It's a much greater moment than all of us, so I'll, without further ado, I'm going to give the floor to Daniel.
Well, thank you. It's a great pleasure to be here once again, talking to you. I think the key role of the board of directors would be capital allocation, understand where we're investing, et cetera, and this is a priority agenda within Ânima. And second thing, perhaps, is most important, as important as would be for us to define and choose the company's CEO.
The two processes are being done in a very diligent way, and the Board of Directors, Marcelo, has always positioned himself. He's a founding partner. As a founder, well, he is, but he was playing the role of CEO for about approximately 2 years ago. What I mean to say is that the agenda, one day, Marcelo will no longer be CEO. We're going to seek somebody in the market and no longer a founding partner that would take the seat of CEO. That was a decision of the board for some time, and 2 years ago, approximately, we started structuring the process of choosing the CEO. We believe that we have to change the roof on sunny days, not rainy days. So we started looking for people in a structured way. I'm going to invite Cabrera, who leads the People Committee, to detail what the process was like.
He's going to talk in a while. A year ago, we met Paula, and then Escobar will give details on the process, and we said, "Well, we think it's the right person." But for her to start playing soon, we ran the whole process. She was at the Una board, and then she became a board member of Ânima. Knowing increasingly more, the company being in the board, she was able to take part in several committees and talk to several people working for Ânima, so that this can be a process in which she starts playing actively. And so we've had lots of conversations with the people, staff members, professors, teachers within Ânima, and unanimously, people said it seems Paula has been here for a long time, for her skills, for her DNA. And many times we have to...
As I say, it's not looking at another viewpoint, but looking at different views from the same point. The moment we are is to bring the same DNA that fits perfectly within Ânima, bringing another view or with different lenses. As you're going to get to know that, the goal of all of this webinar is for you to meet her. Why this moment? I think Ânima, well, hand in hand, we have the two agendas of the board of directors. This process maturing increasingly more, the arrival of a new CEO that has this Ânima DNA, and at the same time, structuring, putting all the cars on the tracks so that Ânima moves into a new phase, as you've been following us, so that we can speed up this train.
This has been the work carried out a lot over the past year with great diligence regarding capital structure, and this is Paula's structure. But to talk a bit more about this process, to explain in a more detailed way, how it was run, I'd like to call Mauricio Escobar , who have led through the people committee, the whole process with all the board engaged. If you could share with us what the process was like, I think it would be very enriching to everyone.
Thank you, Daniel. Good morning, everyone. I'm very pleased to welcome Paula. As Daniel put it quite well, it is a very important and special day. I think it's worth reiterating what Daniel said.
It's important because it closes a very careful process, a two-year process, that has been built in various stages in this process, at least in our experience. It starts with the design of the role. Marcelo uses this expression, "Designing the role of the CEO and the seat of the CEO." So we start understanding the demands, the design, the relevant rituals, so that at a later moment... We are able to identify potential successors, as you well know. Paula was, at the time, she was an executive at Arcelor. She was part of the advisory board. She has some link to us, and this process of identifying potential successors that involve several names. So several conversations that started happening, aiming at understanding profile and combining with the design of the seat, let me use this expression here.
So this conversation that leads to the sequence of integration. And then in the past year, it became more intense in Paula's case. But actually, in our case, it included a period of hers that was very productive as a board member, contributing as a board member, and at the same time getting to know the company, the people, the agenda, and of course, detailing a bit more the format of this transition. I believe that Ânima's governance has proven strengthened, mature to conduct the process. I'd like to acknowledge the whole board of directors that has supported and followed step by step, and also the people committee I coordinated. Well, we have four people, two are external. I'd like to make special mention to Professor Luis Cabrera, a very well-known person as headhunter, as governance consultant.
He is an external member of our committee, and from the beginning, he's been the support that we tapped into on the topic of succession that had a major role in the completion of this process, along with Paula. So I'd like to make this acknowledgment here. So I'm saying it's a special day, because in our case, it's special because after 21 years, Paula will be the first CEO to be in the seat, not being a founding member of the company. And this, of course, as Daniel has mentioned, this requires conditions, and this is part of the process here, is to understand that, how Paula's profile, a person that combines objectivity, pragmatism, without losing track of people management that is very unique to Ânima, and innovation being part of her trajectory.
How she combines her leadership skills with organizational moments, whose governance is similar to ours. So this profile features combine and converge exactly to the company's timing, as Daniel put it. Being ready for stronger growth, having gone through a six-year cycle under the Marcelo's leadership, having overcome several challenges, but actually being adjusted. Finding the right person in the right profile and the convergence of this moment is also part as to how special this day becomes to us. So I'd just like to briefly comment on the process and turn back to you, Daniel, and thank once again the presence of everyone, and telling you how happy we are with, Paula's arrival.
Great. Thank you very much, Escobar. I think Escobar mentioned, actually, regarding governance, I think that the...
In addition to having the state-of-the-art process being conducted very well-structured, Marcelo said that he was making the CEO seat. We had the intent of finding someone outside. So the same way we said we developed a CEO seat, I say we have much more sophisticated governance. Marcelo now leaves this CEO seat, but there is no former founder. He's going to be together, as we've been, always been, not exactly on that seat, but even closer. On the other hand, governance that has been designed, structured with Marcelo there, allowed us to understand exactly how far the board of directors goes, and the autonomy the CEO requires, so that we could have somebody from outside with all the skills to optimize and maximize and add to the historical skills that Paula has.
I'd like to now, before turning over to Marcelo, I'd like to say, Paula, it is a great pleasure to have you with us. It is a choice, and it's also yours, as Escobar mentioned, with all your skills. And I'd like to ask Marcelo to introduce you in a more structured way. But Marcelo, what I would like to is to thank you, man, to congratulate you for these almost six years ahead of Ânima as CEO. We've gone through a maturing process as a company that has been absurd for the past years. The way you have led with your heart, with pragmatism, being present at the most challenging times and most important of Ânima's history, and you were there. I've mentioned a while ago, I'm just going to repeat myself.
If it's a final match, if we could play, Djokovic, those that like tennis, it doesn't matter whether you win or lose, the honor or the battle, the gratitude for the battle is worthwhile. So I'd like to tell you that the honor and gratitude for us to be together, being building this history is wonderful. So congratulations on what you've done in the CEO seat, and it is incredible to announce that we have a new person arriving, but not necessarily the other person is leaving Ânima. So we're just adding and not switching. Well, of course, we have Paula as new CEO and with everything that she's going to bring to us, and now we're together in another place. I'm also happy for the two moves, for our being much closer as partners and founding partners, and now Paula taking the seat of CEO.
It's something that makes me very happy. So I'd like to turn over to you, Marcelo, so that you can also introduce Paula and talk a bit about this process, and then introduce Paula to everyone.
Thank you, Daniel. Thank you, Escobar. Good morning, everyone. To me, it is a great honor to be here. I'd like to start by thanking Daniel, you, Escobar, my partners, all the stakeholders, our shareholders, and for the trust. You had me for five years and 10 months ahead of Ânima. And looking in retrospect, as Escobar mentioned, Professor Cabrera, I remember Escobar six years ago. He was decisive and convincing, as you've mentioned, to me and to us. He said, "Books say that we have to bring somebody from outside. Governance books say that, but don't do that.
You have to take over." He used the term of building the CEO's seat, as Daniel mentioned, and I think it's been the correct decision, so. So my feeling here is of joy, happiness, and especially of, duty accomplished. This makes us feel very proud, for this feeling, for having conducted this work, for now being able, at the right time, the right moment, maturity, that our company is 21 years old, so we are ready to, have the top line growth and hand it over to Paula. I've written and posted on my LinkedIn yesterday after, live when we closed market, a letter that I wrote, and I start the letter saying that the main role of a leader is to choose, bring, and prepare people that are better than us to our organizations, and especially to my place.
So I am certain that Paula is a woman. I told many of you that I've always dreamed of bringing a woman to this chair. Paula is the one. I'm going to tell you more about Paula. You have to hear from her. I, I want to give her more time so that she can talk, introduce herself, but I think Paula comes from an industry which is a reference in productivity, in terms of growth, discipline, profitability, and values. Comes from an industry. I wrote on my letter something that she was forged in steel, but I think this is an important point. She owns dual strengths. She comes from this industry, from this place that will add a lot to our work that has been conducted by all of us. She has this expertise of culture, ESG, people, especially of humanity.
I think she's chosen Ânima, and Ânima has chosen Paula. I think this is the great beauty of this moment as well. So this combination between hard and soft, she is not trivial, not easy to find, and I'm very proud, and publicly, I want to state what we feel, that we've chosen and pass the baton to Paula is a reason for great honor to me. Without further ado, I thank everyone for the trust, and I will be here at this moment supporting Paula and the team for a state-of-the-art transition for the time that is necessary. We'll ensure a state-of-the-art transition and then rest a little bit, and I'll be available to our Ânima to keep playing in the best place, best position, so that I can keep playing in this so special and wonderful company. Paula, the floor is yours.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much. The team I have led until yesterday, very special people, highly qualified and committed and differentiated, and with the genuine purpose of transforming the country through education, making Brazil a better country to our children and our grandchildren. If Brazil doesn't face education for real, we won't be able to have a better Brazil. Education has no price, only value. Paula, up to you. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Marcelo. Thank you, Daniel, Mauricio, and whole board of directors. With this appointment, they are entrusting me this mission in this new cycle of Ânima. Good morning, everyone. We have had opportunities to interact more frequently. But in this initial moment, let me introduce me, myself briefly. I come from Rosario, Rosario, Argentina, Messi's land, a land which I also fell in love with the sport.
I was an athlete for over a decade, a goalkeeper of a discipline that is not so known in Brazil, you know, lawn hockey. I had, you know, shoulder issues, two surgeries, and then I was in that rush of those that are entrepreneurs, urban lives, practicing sports. I decided to channel my energy, this preparation, to be a corporate athlete. I got the invitation of being trained at ArcelorMittal when I was 22, very close where I live in Rosario. This 20-year career in corporate athletics. It's the best. You have people and numbers. People, that is, this human power that generates performance of exceeding limits, preparation with, you know, victories, defeats. So I'm an athlete in my blood, and I see that corporate athletics is a place where I found myself.
This happened in the universe of steel. In 20 years, within ArcelorMittal, I've been to six different countries, and I came to Brazil in 2011, and I felt that's where I wanted to stay. I'm here because I have chosen it. I love Brazil. I have two Brazilian daughters. I lived in Espírito Santo, Piracicaba, in the state of São Paulo, and now I'm living in Belo Horizonte, probably shortly moving to São Paulo and knowing that Brazil is a great power. It's a great power of business. It's ninth economy in the world. When we look in terms of the competitiveness, innovation, we are the, well, we are, as you know, 62, 67 countries. So that's where we have our major opportunity to bring Brazil to the place where it deserves.
I found Ânima at a time in my life, as you know, those convergences, those points we understand when we look back. The right person at the right time and the right place. So I worked for a long time with people. That's something magical. This happens, and it happened. The first conversation I had with Marcelo and Daniel, at a lifetime where I felt what I wanted to build in the second part of my - the game of my life, converge perfectly. Right off the bat, I felt the purpose of value, purpose. This I have to work with people I believe that we share the same values, and we have the same guidance, same goal. Well, what we're going to do then, we talk, decide. To me, this is value. And it is important to bring this story that they are sharing with you.
The company is ready to take the step. To me, this is very important. Ânima is choosing me, but I am choosing Ânima, and it is choice. I see a powerful ecosystem filled with value. Ânima is filled with ideas, projects, and it brings me a mission. The board calls me with this agenda, "Paula, we need to speed up the train that is on track." And you know, what Daniel has brought to Marcelo, so gone through the worst tempest in the industry, daring to grow. It's been a brave company, also basing its growth in this innovative agenda, courageous one, bringing this viewpoint of sustainability, of making this legacy perennial. So I'm arriving at exactly this moment.
The company is ready to seek this agenda, to focus on top line, to bring a viewpoint not only of revenue, revenue, EBITDA, cash, looking at that and understanding that once it's integrated, its systems, its brands, now I can play the game better. We know which territory, what brand. Look how interesting. This is the great difference I see in Ânima. It's competitive. It has a strategy, and it has been honoring legacies in its base, bringing strength to the brands that have had, like 70, 50 years of history. I had the opportunity of visiting some of them, but in the initial visits, I can feel what the value is known by the internal audience, community, public, private sectors. There's a strong reference. So this brand value is where we're going to tap into. So the company is ready now.
So once it's ready to manage this ecosystem, power to the edge, and let's win, see where we're winning, losing the game at the variant. So in the agenda, efficiency, simplify agility in the decision-making process. And the CEO, as Marcelo said, and the chair, that talks very much in my management style, but what I did for 20 years at ArcelorMittal, it's not going to be, you know, boots. How might I leave the technical field? You know, it's actually not my cup of tea. I'm, you know, actually, not a technical person. I'm a manager, and I want to strengthen this value proposal that is anchored in this knowledge that the company has. I'm not an educational expert. The knowledge of the industry is in here, so I bring a new viewpoint to everything that already exists to seek those efficiency gains.
It is new growth agenda that the company has. Perhaps this is a brief introduction to leave some room for questions. I turn back to, I don't know, Daniel, Mauricio, Marcelo, Marina. She's going to be conducting the Q&A session, so we can start that.
I am back here, Paula. Thank you. Thank you, everyone. Present, we have over 110 people attending the webinar.
... So let's start with the Q&A. So the first person registered is Samuel Alves from BTG Pactual. Samuel, it's up to you.
Thank you, Marina. Good morning, Paula, Marcelo, Daniel, Mauricio. I'd like to, before anything else, wish a big welcome and success to Paula. I have a question on our side, which is Paula's agenda from now on. At the interview in Brazil Journal, it's been mentioned that there is a focus of resuming the growth cycle of the company. The question would be: Which would be the priorities in this agenda and the action plan to speed up the growth? And if this could encompass new areas of action and operation from now onwards for the company. Thank you very much.
Shall I start, Paula? Samuel, thank you for the question.
I'm going to support Paula from now on in the transition. She's arriving now. She's been in the company for some, quite some time, but we have to look at that, and I think recovering or resuming growth is the most important part of the agenda. To speed up, it's important to have a turnaround. It's not nice to do it, and we've done it. This does not bring, doesn't bring growth, but doesn't bring a future, but it's very necessary to do. Paula will lead the process for growth in the company. We're going to support her, but we have many opportunities. She's kind of, mapping things out, and we will intensify this agenda from now on, increasingly more.
Samuel, it's an agenda of value generation to expand that for shareholders, expanding this value generation to students that are choosing our proposal, a value for educators that can also choose to be part of this construction. This value generation, basically, is a part of the top line in a revenue that becomes qualitative. Ânima, it's important not to say that Paula is going to save, you know, the nation. No, it's part of the agenda. I've been following, you know, all the bottom line, you know, of Ânima Marina. This is the driver. If you take recent stories and results show this, the evolution in profitability, we see the quality of the revenue, precisely the quality of the ticket, the value proposal that Ânima has to offer. This is something, actually, you know, something that gives me a competitive positioning.
Marcelo said, "For me, education is regionally, an animal, has the opportunity of winning and losing, at the very end, to lower the gravity center, bring the brand position, and bring the local accent, to have a strategy with more pricing intelligence, pricing product positioning," that's it. Market strategy that is well-focused with a lot of agility in the decision-making process and gaining simplicity. I mean, of the principle, there's not great innovation. Of course, there is, you know, innovation, several agendas. We are, you know, going through strategic planning, so this is precisely what we're doing now. To give you an idea, we had, you know, today's, well, 35 executives, you know, [branded writers]. They were there, where they win, where they lose, what they need, giving them voice. The agenda goes through that, a real action.
Competitive, strong in our various marketplaces at the very end, looking at efficiencies, where we need to strengthen, leave aside and grow. This is the agenda, and we go through method, discipline, KPI, and monitoring that very closely.
Thank you once again. Success. A great success to you.
Thank you, Samuel.
Next person registered is Luca Marchesini from Itaú BBA. Luca, up to you.
Good morning, everyone. First of all, welcome to Paula. Wish you great success in the new challenge. I think I have a question here. We see the Brazil Journal story that Marcelo will stay in the company, focused on the transition and the organic deleveraging agenda. Both Marcelo and Paula could talk a bit about this point. It would help us, please.
Oh, Luca, thank you. You followed, and you have been following us.
We have designed an organic deleveraging agenda, implemented everything within our reach, not counting on factors that were not within our reach, that could be implemented, that we implemented with great success, and we've attained our openness one quarter before each one, one of them. The organic deleveraging is an important point, because if we are able to deleverage faster, we generate more value to our shareholders. So we made this move of inorganic liability deleveraging, parallel liability management. We're almost completing that. The debentures of Inspirali, a great part of Ânima Holding. We are completing this work, and this has put the company in a situation that we have to intensify, not needing to do, being conditions to doing the best movement of, uh, inorganic leverage. We don't have a silver bullet, and we have several alternatives.
I have more time to devote, with the support of our board, our shareholders, to implement this agenda as well.
Super clear. Thank you for the response once again. Success, Paula.
Thank you, Luca.
Thank you, Luca.
Thank you, Luca. Thank you, Luca. Here we have a question on our Q&A on how we're thinking about the growth, top line, and at the same time, if we've been discussing selling assets.
I'm going to answer that, because Paula has answered that. You know, speeding up the train on strengthening our brands. We have many brands, so when we talk about the agenda of a possible divestiture, it's exactly thinking about speeding up deleveraging for us to be able to speed up the other end, which is top line growth.
Working at Ânima, that works on a leverage level of expansion, that it becomes a priority agenda, because that's our DNA, our history. From the first day, these three guys boarded in Belo Horizonte, everything we've done was to expand, to grow, to give more life and strength to these incredible legacy of these brands, of great reputation, families we admire so much, making them grow throughout Brazil. One thing is directly linked to the other and not opposed. Sorry, I couldn't help doing my part. Very good. So you mentioned in the previous answer. I'd just like to add a point. Sometimes we need to sort of bend down to take a leap.
In the past years, what we've done in the past few years, to give you an example, to be able to be efficient in the use of AI, you have to create a structured data lake. Just an example. So we first need to integrate, then be able to have everyone moving, as Marcelo mentioned, to system integration, creating or building a data lake so that you can actually give strength to the various ends, as Paula mentioned. This is the time we are. So we've streamlined, we've structured Ânima as a whole. So there's a bit bigger centralization so that you have the possibility of empowering the very brands, as Paula mentioned.
All this gain and growth in an organic way will be in this, independence of the variant and a deeper analysis of brands, the whole process that Paula has put up, brought up. I just wanted to add that we have gone through this phase of systems integration, setting up the data lake, so the strengthening of Ânima Holding so that we can, at this moment, then when Paula is arriving, and actually, Paula has these skills of working in projects, products, lines, something more fluid that matches very much this timing of Ânima.
Thank you, Daniel. With this, I'd like to turn over to Paula. Nothing more opportune than your wrapping up, Paula, of your first moment in, one of our webinars. I cannot talk about my emotion, my pleasure of being here along with a woman. I have to mention this, you know.
I think you have had a lot of welcome mentions. I think everybody has bet so much for your success. You are the right person at the right time to make us fly very high, just as we have been flying in the past years. Thank you very much. Count on our success, and you have the floor.
Marina, the mission of conducting Ânima in this new cycle of sustainable growth converges with what I have to offer, which is this balance between purpose and pragmatism. Purpose with no pragmatism is impotent. Pragmatism with no purpose doesn't make sense. And Ânima is born from a purpose, with a mission of rescuing the school and transforming Brazil through education. And I'm a daughter of a university professor. I'm here through education. I have a genuine value, conviction, and the truth of Ânima, because this is rare. I know many companies.
When I left ArcelorMittal, this year I wrote a book with, you know, Bernardinho and Romeu, and we talked about the role companies play in the society and the impact they generate to their audiences, to shareholders, to students, clients, and associates. This is the new game of businesses to become better for them, to generate value, to be in the mission to make the deliveries. And pragmatism without purpose does not match with Ânima. Ânima is a company that requires every day, at every class, every interaction between professor, students, and teacher to make this magic to happen. And that's what, what Brazil needs from us: passion, protagonism, great perseverance, this game. I understand that I bring a new look to what is being done very well here. I found a team that is willing, you know, as you know, the attention.
We, on Monday, Tuesday, met with the team. I felt this strong match, which is very rare, but this is the real power of Ânima. So the idea is Ânima, perhaps you have to calibrate, organize, follow up, and go, and it will fly. And this is what's going to happen from the place. People see Ânima, and this is rare. I tell you here, because this is rare, being working with people for a long time. Many times people call me to, you know, motivate a thing, you know, push the, you know, the guys. I think we have this competitive potential. Thank you.
Thank you very much to you all. We're going to close here. We're available to all of you as always. We're going to have several interactions from now onwards, as Paula mentioned. Thank you very much. Have a great day. See you soon.
Thank you very much. Thank you, guys. Have a good weekend. Thanks.