When Azzas 2154 was created in August 2024, the discourse was one of complementarity. But, 18 months later, the turnover of key executives is a sign that integration has turned into a power struggle.

The latest to leave the group of brands is Ruy Kameyama , who had taken over as CEO of fashion & lifestyle in August of last year.

The vertical was the result of the merger between fashion & lifestyle women (formerly Grupo Soma) and fashion & lifestyle men (formerly AR&Co), which became a single business unit based in Rio de Janeiro with Kameyama at the helm, who did not complete a year in the new position.

"Roberto Jatahy and Alexandre Birman hardly speak to each other, and Ruy was the link. This is a catastrophe for the company," a source with access to the company told NeoFeed .

"Ruy was the go-between in this relationship. Everything that needs to be approved, like store openings, campaigns, investments, needs to go through Birman, who holds the final say," the source added.

Another source, this one close to Kameyama, confirmed to NeoFeed that the executive felt his mandate had ended and he would not be able to move forward due to the "complexity of governance that makes the challenges and alignments greater."

"He started as an advisor, worked on the delicate transition of the Reserve, which went well, and achieved his goals. He didn't fight with Birman or Jatahy, but realized it was the end of a cycle because he wouldn't be able to make the progress he wanted," says this source.

When Kameyama took over as CEO of fashion & lifestyle, Jatahy, the founder of Soma, stepped away from the day-to-day operations to assume a more strategic role, with a creative and expansion-oriented focus, as chief of brands officer (CBO).

The move was seen as a return to Jatahy's roots and the result of a new agreement for the corporate governance of the business, reached between him and Birman about 45 days earlier.

The departures at the top of the company, which revealed a misalignment in integration, seemed to be resolved. Until now, with Kameyama increasing that list to nine executives.

Since trading of the ticker AZZA3 on the B3 stock exchange began on August 1, 2024, the stock has accumulated a decline of just under 54%. By 2026, the stock is projected to fall by 10.1%. Azzas' market capitalization is R$ 4.7 billion.

Long list

Perhaps no move better symbolizes this friction than the brief tenure of Paulo Kruglensky , who was hired to be the integration man - but who didn't even last 120 days with the company.

The former CEO of Vivara, he joined as chief integration officer (CIO), reporting directly to Birman, with the responsibility of capturing synergies and aligning two radically different cultures.

As NeoFeed reported, he left the company back in August 2024. Behind the scenes, the move was attributed to internal disagreements and an atmosphere of growing tension among the leadership.

His departure had significant symbolic weight, after all, the executive responsible for integrating the companies was the first to leave when the integration actually began.

Next came the first crack with the departure of the "soul" of Reserva . Rony Meisler, the founder, and his partners Fernando Sigal, Jayme Nigri Moszkowicz, and José Alberto da Silva did not merely occupy formal executive positions. They were responsible for building one of the most emblematic brands in the portfolio and led AR&Co, the company's menswear and lifestyle vertical.

In practice, they functioned as a kind of autonomous leadership within the group, a typical Soma model that was beginning to lose ground. The market's interpretation was that the company was relinquishing creative capital, the asset that justified part of the merger.

The movement didn't stop there. In 2025, the reorganization also began to encompass the operational structure and relevant positions within that structure.

Thiago Hering was the leader of the brand created by his family, which was acquired by Soma in 2021. Within the group, he held the CEO position for the Basic unit and had direct responsibility for results and operations.

In addition to him, Luciana Wodzik, the CEO of the footwear division, which was the heart of the company and held a relevant leadership position within that structure, also left the company.

These findings indicated that the logic of autonomous units was being replaced by a more integrated structure, with greater centralization of decisions.

To complete this move, Rafael Sachete , an executive with about two decades at AR&Co, also left the company. He was the CFO of Azzas 2154 until August of last year, when he took over the shoes and bags vertical following Wodzik's departure.

In this initial merger process, Sachete was responsible for the entire financial process, from capturing synergies to allocating capital. In March of this year, he assumed the role of CFO of Assaí.

At the heart of this power dynamic at the top lies a conflict that has never been fully resolved. On one side, the AR&Co model, based on control, standardization, and efficiency gains. On the other, the Soma model, built on autonomy, brand identity, and decentralization. The merger promised to combine these two worlds, something that has not yet happened.