Hapvida Participações e Investimentos S.A.

What it is

Hapvida sells health plans and treats the patients in its own clinics, labs and hospitals, rather than paying outside doctors. It runs more than 80 hospitals and serves over 16 million members across Brazil.

This own-everything model is meant to control costs, the central challenge for any health insurer. The Pinheiro family founded it four decades ago in Fortaleza, and the 1979 roots trace to oncologist Cândido Pinheiro de Lima.

Who owns it

The Pinheiro family controls the company, and in 2026 it pushed its grip past half. In April the family group reached about 55.4% of the share capital, or 58.62% excluding treasury shares.

That headline number is partly borrowed muscle, not pure ownership. Of that stake, 194.9 million shares are held directly, with the rest via stock lending, derivatives and rights — leaving real voting power at 47.29%, or 50.04% excluding treasury shares.

The buying is a defence. Asset manager Squadra, with about 5.15% of capital, nominated three people for the board, set to be decided at a 30 April meeting.

Squadra had called Hapvida the biggest value destruction in Brazil’s capital markets.

Who runs it

The leadership is changing hands after a long family era. Jorge Pinheiro, CEO for years, is stepping aside for finance chief Luccas Adib, in a handover running through 2026.

The new finance chief is Lucas Garrido, who came from Boston Consulting Group, with earlier stints at Itaú Asset and Singapore’s GIC fund. Jorge Pinheiro moves up to chairman, taking over from founder Cândido Pinheiro, who stays on the board.

The money, in plain words

Sales are growing, but profit is missing. Revenue rose to R$31.58bn (US$6.13bn) in 2025, up about 9.2% from 2024 (our calculation).

The problem is the bottom line: it lost money. The R$141.7m (US$27.5m) loss means a net margin of −0.45% and a return on equity of −0.29% (our calculation) — small numbers, but the wrong side of zero for a company this size.

Debt is the other weight. The company carries R$15.45bn (US$3.0 bn) of debt against R$0.88bn (US$171 mn) of cash, so net debt is about R$14.58bn (US$2.83bn) (our calculation).

What it is doing now

Hapvida is selling off weak ground to cut that debt. It has begun selling its operation in Brazil’s South, hiring BTG Pactual to find buyers.

It is also rebuilding its top team. New leaders for legal, strategy, people, premium plans and medical affairs were named alongside the CFO change.

What to watch

Watch whether the company can turn that 9% growth into actual profit, the whole point of the leadership overhaul. Adjusted net profit fell 64.9% to R$180.6m (US$35 mn) in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Watch the South sale price and the board fight. The shares have lost more than 95% from their 2021 peak, so any sign of a real turnaround matters.

This is news, not investment advice.