Latache Capital secured a seat on the board of directors of Usiminas, in a general meeting held in the early afternoon of Thursday, April 23.

The chosen candidate was Marco Aurelio Luz Gonçalves, who had been nominated by the special situations manager earlier in the week. In addition to Luz, Latache had also nominated Stefan Lourenço de Lima.

To secure a position on the Usiminas board , Latache even requested the use of multiple voting rights, which allow for a single candidate to be chosen. However, the election was ultimately decided through a slate of candidates and a separate election for minority shareholders, who were able to elect a board member without the influence of the controlling bloc.

Initially, the controlling shareholders had suggested a single slate of seven members for the board of directors, but the request for multiple voting rights opened the door for other shareholders to participate in the election.

The asset manager holds approximately 5% of Usiminas' common shares, while Ternium is the controlling shareholder, with over 50% of the company's voting shares.

Compared to the previous board , only the number of seats increased, from seven to nine members, without any board members leaving. Of the nine, eight were elected by the shareholders, while employees were entitled to one representative.

All seven board members who were part of the slate proposed by the controlling shareholder were elected, including Elias de Matos Brito, who remained as chairman of the company.

Latache Capital's entry into Usiminas occurred in September of last year through the Vera Cruz fund, initially managed by Reag. In an interview with NeoFeed , Renato Azevedo, CEO of the asset management firm, stated that he preferred to assume formal management of the fund only at the beginning of this month to avoid causing "alarm".

“When our name is mentioned, people immediately think there’s going to be a fight. And that wasn’t the goal. That’s why we held off a bit before taking over the management of this fund, so as not to create this kind of unnecessary fuss,” he said.

According to Azevedo, it wasn't yet time to reveal the strategy behind the position in the company, but the thesis isn't fundamentalist. "Rest assured, if we're investing, it's because there's something there. It will come to light eventually."

The CEO of Latache also stated that the nomination to the Usiminas board was aimed at greater involvement in the company's corporate formalizations.

For the fiscal council, Latache also managed to elect two members who had its support — André Leal Faoro and João Arthur Bastos Gasparino da Silva, both chosen through a separate election. The other three members were elected by the slate supported by the controlling bloc.

With R$4 billion under management, the asset manager has increasingly focused its operations on corporate litigation cases, including those involving the Oncoclínicas takeover bid and the merger of BRF and Marfrig .

In the market, Latache's entry into Usiminas has been viewed with some caution, given the uncertainties surrounding the firm's intentions for the company. "They secured a seat on the board. But Usiminas isn't distressed . I don't know what that means," said one equity manager.

In addition to electing the board, the assembly also approved the 2025 financial statements, the allocation of profits and the remuneration of directors, as well as a series of changes to the bylaws, including changes to governance rules, the management structure and the possibility of increasing capital.

Among the governance changes, shareholders approved the exclusion of the Conduct Committee and adjustments to the powers of the board of directors, the audit committee, and the statutory board.

On the B3 stock exchange, USIM5 shares have accumulated a gain of 18.8% in 12 months. The company's market capitalization is R$ 9 billion.