PROFILE: Francisco Valim, new Nextel Brasil CEO

Telecoms operator Nextel Brasil announced this Monday that it had appointed Francisco Valim as its new CEO, with the goal of improving profitability and accelerating growth in the country.

The announcement, disclosed first by controller NII Holdings, took place on the same day that reports said rival TIM was working on a bid for Nextel Brasil. TIM denied the claims, while Nextel made no comment.

Valim is no newcomer to the industry. The executive is a well-known name in the local telecoms sector, having headed two major Brazilian carriers in the past. This appointment marks his comeback to the segment.

From 2003 to 2008, Valim was the CEO of NET, Brazil's largest cable TV operator, controlled by Mexico's América Móvil group.

During his term at the company, NET went from losses of 1.12bn reais in 2002 (approximately US$280mn at the time) to its first recorded profit in 2006. Some of the measures adopted to put NET in the black included marketing and branding investments and negotiations with debt holders.

Valim left NET to run credit information firm Serasa Experian for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

In 2011, Valim returned to the telecoms world as CEO of Rio de Janeiro-based Oi, currently the fourth biggest telecoms firm in Brazil and where he had already served as CFO.

His second experience at the company was not happy, though. The executive departed from Oi 18 months later amid disagreements with the board and with shareholders over the company's direction. At the time, it was said he cashed in over 100mn reais as part of his contract termination.

Prior to joining Nextel, Valim was running Via Varejo (Via Retail), one of the largest electronics and furniture retailers in Latin America.

At Nextel Brasil, he will succeed Gokul Hemmady, who was CEO since 2012 and the person largely responsible for the launch of 3G services and Nextel's expansion in Brazil.

Francisco Valim has a degree in business administration, with a postgraduate degree in finance from Fundação Getúlio Vargas and an MBA from the University of Southern California - Marshall School of Business.

The change in the company's management is part of the completion of NII Holdings' restructuring process, following its deal to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy at the end of June. With all eyes on the Brazilian operation, the new shareholders of NII Holdings have opted for a fellow Brazilian CEO, Nextel Brasil said in a statement.

Nextel Brasil ended the second quarter this year with more than 2mn 3G and 4G customers, giving it 0.74% of the market, and about 2mn radio (iDEN) users. The company had net additions of 264,000 lines in the period. Nextel Brasil operates in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

The operator foresees investments of over 1bn reais (US$279mn) in Brazil this year, not including its participation in the 1.8 GHz band auction, which is slated for October. Nextel considers the frequency essential to continue competing in the market as it will allow it to expand 4G services to the São Paulo metropolitan region. Currently, the technology is available only in Rio.

The entire NII Holdings group, which only has operations in Argentina now, reported a net loss of 64,000 subscribers in 2Q15, ending the period with 6.3mn subscribers, up 2% compared to end-June 2014. Subscriber growth in 3G in Brazil was offset by iDEN subscriber losses in both Brazil and Argentina.