The Votorantim Group is amongst the largest business groups in Latin America. Its companies are leaders or have large shares in all the markets in which they participate, such as in cement production, cellulose, paper, aluminium, zinc, nickel, long steel, specialities and orange juice. It also has an important share in the financial sector through Banco Votorantim. The Group has an active participation in the energy sector, both in self-generation destined to supply its productive units, as well as in the public sector for which it distributes and markets electricity. Votorantim operates nine different business sectors, employs 30,000 professionals and has three production units abroad (USA, Canada and Peru).

In 1905, Ignacio Votorantim established the Fabrica de Oleos de Santa Helena. In 1918 he expanded his business ventures and the enterprise was re-named Sociedade Anonyma Fabrica Votorantim. By 1923, it had become the largest textile producers in São Paulo. The founder's son-in-law José Ermirio and Ignacio took their small textile firm to new heights. By the end of the 1950's, the Group comprised 46 companies.

By the 1950's, the Group began producing aluminium, hydroelectric power as well as refining sugar. In the 1970's and 80's, the Group entered into zinc and nickel mining and smelting, as well as plastics and film wrapping. In 1988 the Group acquired Celpav, its first pulp and paper plant. In 1989, it created Citrovita, the Groups first concentrated orange juice plant.

In the early 1990's, recognizing that the financial sector was counter-cyclical to industrial activity, the Group entered this sector through Banco Votorantim, diversifying cash flow and opening a new growth avenue. In spite of the volatility and stagnant growth of the Brazilian economy in the past decades, the Group has grown at an annual rate of 7%.

For most of its history, the Votorantim Group was structured around independent business units, each of which was run by a different family member. A report by Mc Kinsey & Co. on family-owned companies served as a strong signal for them to significantly transform the Group's structure and the family's relation to it. The report showed that less than 10% of family-owned companies survive the third generation because of the number of family members grows to be too large and results in infighting. The family crafted a totally new two-pronged governance structure with two boards, separating family from executive matters.

Within the structural context of the Family Council, with the arrival of a larger number of 4th generation members, the Group has instituted a series of educational and professional development programs to provide the necessary skills for a successful career - whether in or out of the family business.