After more than three decades at Semapa Group, Vítor Paranhos Pereira is preparing for the next chapter of his life. At 68, Semapa Group’s CFO is stepping down from his executive role at the holding company but will remain involved with Sodim, continuing to oversee the Ritz Hotel—a project he’s helped develop since 1989. From day one, Vítor Paranhos Pereira has witnessed and played a key role in Semapa’s transformation from a family holding company into one of Portugal’s leading corporate groups. And from that very first day, Vítor Paranhos Pereira has shown the Group the value of dedication, determination, and rising to challenges.

In this interview, he shares his 36-year journey, what it was like working with Pedro Queiroz Pereira, and the project he’s followed so closely—the Ritz.

Pedro Queiroz Pereira had just returned from Brazil, and the decision was made to split the management of the family’s assets between him and Manuel Queiroz Pereira. When Manuel started putting together a new team, I was invited to join the Group. In 1989, I began at Sodim – SGPS, which at the time managed the Ritz Hotel and held a stake in the Sheraton Hotel.

Over all these years, my role has been to closely monitor the Ritz Hotel’s local management and ensure that short-term decisions don’t compromise long-term goals.

The decision to close the hotel during the pandemic was a major challenge. In 2019, we’d decided to renovate three floors. By March 2020, the question was: ‘Should we close and use this opportunity to do more?’ It was an incredibly difficult decision because no one knew how long the pandemic would last, we’d have no revenue, there were so many unknowns. We decided to go ahead and ended up renovating seven floors instead of three. It was one of the toughest calls of my career, but it paid off.

In 1993, when Manuel Queiroz Pereira became ill, management was transferred to Pedro Queiroz Pereira. That’s when I moved to Pedro’s team. While I initially focused on the hotel, I gradually took on responsibilities in the group’s real estate portfolio as well. Later, in 2013, I was actively involved in the shareholders’ separation process and joined Semapa’s Board of Directors in a non-executive capacity.

The most recent shift came in 2020, when I was asked to take on the CFO role at Semapa. I started on March 1st—just fifteen days before the pandemic hit.

Pedro Queiroz Pereira had passed away in 2018, and we were all learning to operate without that central figure and adjusting our governance processes and relationships with portfolio companies in his absence.

There had been a philosophy during Pedro Queiroz Pereira’s time where Semapa viewed its holdings as financial investments. The pandemic forced us to develop closer relationships. When Ricardo Pires came on board as CEO in 2022, that shift accelerated.

Through the end of 2022, one of Semapa’s biggest challenges was around identity. Navigator had its identity, Secil had its own, and so on. There was some difficulty in recognizing the common ownership. This acknowledgment that each company has its distinct identity while sharing the Semapa Group umbrella has been work we’ve done over the past three years. Creating “Making it Better” as a unifying purpose was a key achievement of this latest term.

He made a profound impact on me. Of my 36 years here, I spent three decades with him. He had exceptional strategic vision, constantly challenged us, delegated extensively, but kept pushing us to do better. If we said, “I’ll get from here to there in ten minutes,” Pedro Queiroz Pereira would ask “why not eight?” He helped me grow tremendously as a professional. I learned so much from him. It was formative—spending three decades of my professional life working with him, it couldn’t help but shape who I am.

Semapa Group and Pedro Queiroz Pereira were one and the same. So, it was a major adjustment. Pedro Queiroz Pereira’s daughters then took on the shareholder role. Between the three sisters, you have their father’s personality — each has a piece of him. We’ve always felt tremendous trust from them and very strong support.

A growth strategy is being defined — to become a larger, more diversified Group that can grow and meet the goal of reaching one billion euros in EBITDA by 2030. I think it’s entirely achievable; it’s an ambitious target. I won’t be actively contributing anymore, but I’ll always be watching from the sidelines.

I started planning my exit about a year ago. At 68, it’s time to make way for the next generation. The shareholders invited me to stay involved with Sodim and continue overseeing the Ritz for another two or three years, which I happily accepted.

Now, the goal is to control my own schedule. For thirty-six years, Semapa Group has been my priority.

I’d like to be remembered as someone who joined in 1989 when the Group looked very different from what it is today. Semapa is now one of Portugal’s leading corporate groups, and I’d like to think I played a part in that.

Months before he passed away, Pedro Queiroz Pereira said to me: “Vítor, look at where we were when we first sat down together and where we are today.” He said “we,” not “I.” If I’m recognized as someone who contributed to that success, I’m truly grateful.