Two execs leave Starwood’s Brazil office

After joining Starwood Capital Group to head up its São Paulo office upon its opening a little more than two years ago, two brothers have left the Greenwich, Connecticut-based real estate investment firm. 

Rodolfo Senra

Citing sources familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Rodolfo and Vitor Senra have left Starwood Capital Brasil. They are understood to be establishing their own property investment firm in Brazil, which is called BRIO Investimentos Imobiliários, according to their LinkedIn profiles. 

Ryan Hawley, who moved to São Paulo from Starwood's Greenwich headquarters in 2010, is now running the firm's Brazil operations. Representatives from Starwood declined to comment, and at press time, the Senra brothers could be reached for comment.

Starwood opened in São Paulo in the summer of 2010, having hired the Senra brothers to lead the firm’s activities in the region. The São Paulo office represented Starwood’s 10th office and its fifth internationally.

Prior to joining Starwood, the two men founded Sollers Investimentos in 2009, a Brazilian real estate investment firm focused on the office, warehouse and residential markets. Previously, Rodolfo Senra was chief investment officer at real estate investment firm São Carlos, while Vitor Senra was an associate with GoldenTree InSite Partners’ acquisitions team, focused on Brazil, between July 2008 and August 2009. 

Just prior to Starwood establishing a presence in Brazil, one source told PERE in June 2010 that “Starwood is very bullish on the hotel market” in the region. At the time, roughly 15 percent of Brazilian hotels were affiliated with chains, with just half of those affiliated with international chains. 

Separately, Starwood is looking to soon wrap up fundraising for its ninth opportunistic vehicle. Sources have told PERE that Starwood Distressed Opportunity Fund IX, which had collected $2 billion in equity commitments as of this summer, is expected to close next month, when the firm could hold a final close of nearly $3 billion.