Eztec

The engineering, construction and real estate development activities under the EZTEC brand began on February 15, 1979, when the Company’s founding shareholders, Mr. Ernesto Zarzur, Mr. Flávio Ernesto Zarzur and Mr. Silvio Ernesto Zarzur founded EZTEC Engenharia, taking advantage of Mr. Ernesto Zarzur experience in the segment until that moment.

Since then, EZTEC’s activities have been carried out through operating companies owned and managed by the Company’s founding shareholders, who remain to this day in the management of its business, and by holdings of its operating group.

In July 2006, the Company began its corporate reorganization process, which consists of the creation of EZ TEC Empreendimentos e Participações SA (“EZTEC” or “Company”) and the transfer to it of assets linked to the real estate business, on October 31, 2006.  The main objective of this corporate reorganization was to create a corporate structure that would allow it to list its common shares on the Novo Mercado segment of the BM&F BOVESPA and to promote its engineering, construction and real estate development activities. On June 27, 2007, EZTEC started trading under the ticker EZTC3.

The year of 2019 was a significant year for the Company as well as for the entire sector. Approximately R$1.9 billion in PSV were launched for a guidance between R$1.5 billion and R$2 billion, representing the company’s confidence in the economic moment the country was experiencing.

Ernesto Zarzur started his professional life as a real estate broker. And he ended up as one of the most successful businessmen in the country’s history. Founder, controller and chairman of the Board of Directors of EZTEC, a real estate developer focused on high-end residential and commercial properties in Greater São Paulo, Ernesto Zarzur had a reserved profile. But he was extremely warm to everyone.

Upon arriving at the Company’s headquarters every day to work, “Seu” Ernesto, as he was affectionately called, walked around the rooms greeting employees with a kiss on the cheek. He told everyone that one of his biggest goals was to create a legacy for the city he loved so much, São Paulo, constructing buildings that could turn into postcards.

Born on February 28, 1934, he was the son of Lebanese immigrants. In the few interviews he gave, laughing he told “I had everything to go wrong in life”. After a health problem, he dropped out of school and learned to read and write at home with his mother.

At the beginning of his adult life and already married to “Dona” Esther, with whom he lived until his death, he started working as a real estate brooker for his brother Waldomiro at Construtora Zarzur & Kogan. But soon he began to undertake. In 1967, he founded Vilamar Veículos SA, a General Motors car dealer of Brazil.

The enterprise was successful, but the business man really liked to build and sell his properties. The first building incorporated and built by him was named Marcelo, in honor of one of his sons, on Rua Teodoro Sampaio, in Pinheiros. In 1979, he founded EZTEC, today one of the most respected real estate developers in the country, which, since 2007, has its shares traded on the Novo Mercado of B3.

One of the mantras of “Seu” Ernesto, starting from the company’s IPO, was: “Minorities shareholhers first, minority shareholders second, minority shareholders third”. Until recently, the real estate developer held an annual face-to-face meeting with shareholders. Dozens of minority shareholders from various regions of the country attended and made a point of greeting him.

The businessman had great business gift and passed through all the economic crises, including worldwide ones, knowing what had to be done to preserve the company’s financial health and the interests of those who trusted him.

Ernesto Zarzur loved to work. In addition to daily visit the company’s headquarters, he used to visit the  construction works. But he never referred to himself as a businessman. “What I really am is a estate brooker, and with great pride. I love selling,” he would say, beating his chest in pride. He visited the selling stands on Saturdays and Sundays, encouraging the brokers to close good deals.

“Seu” Ernesto had some famous catchphrases. One of them was: “I only build where my eyes can see or where I can get on foot”. It was true. This vision allowed the developer to inspect the works step by step, guaranteeing the quality and profitability of EZTEC’s projects.

Although he never studied neither engineering nor architecture, he demanded the utmost in good taste and technology from the professionals participating in the projects. And he managed to fulfill his dream of leaving postcards for the city, always motivated by the idea that “It’s not about just building square meters, it’s about transforming São Paulo into a city of beauty”.

His greatest pride is the EZ Towers, on Avenida Chucri Zaidan, in the south zone of São Paulo. The project represents an important milestone for its design, technical and sustainability standards, with two towers and a total of 160,000 square meters of built area. The new architectural milestone he idealized for São Paulo is Esthers Towers, at Chácara Santo Antônio, which will be completed in 2024 and was named in honor of his wife. These projects, as well as many others, attest to the visionary look of “Seu” Ernesto, a man whose constructions were always ahead of his time.

The entrepreneur Ernesto Zarzur passed away in São Paulo at the age of 87, of natural causes, under the care of his beloved wife, Esther, with whom he was married for 65 years.

He leaves his sons and daughter Flavio, Silvio, Silvana, Marcelo, Marcos and Anna Lúcia, 17 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. To the family, we express our deepest feelings of condolence and dedicate our gratitude for all the legacy that Ernesto Zarzur left us.