In a statement, the Board of Directors of Efacec Power Solutions states that Isabel dos Santos informed the body that "decided to leave the shareholder structure" of the group, "with final effect".
Therefore, following this decision, "Mário Leite da Silva resigned as Chairman of the Board of Directors", as well as the lawyer Jorge Brito Pereira, who "resigned as Chairman of the General Meeting of Efacec Power Solutions, both with immediate effect".
The Board of Directors states that, "in this context, engineer Isabel dos Santos requested" this body "to initiate, with immediate effect, the necessary steps to carry out her departure from the shareholder structure of Efacec Power Solutions", and that advisors have already been appointed for this purpose.
"The Executive Committee remains bound by the principles of independence and sound management, diligence and good faith, and is fully focused on implementing the business development plan for 2020, with attention to the interests of all its stakeholders, including its customers, employees and suppliers," says the group.
The Board of Directors of Efacec Power Solutions "reaffirms a word of reassurance and confidence to all our employees, customers and suppliers, certain that together we will be able to maintain and strengthen Efacec's position as a reference in the sectors in which it operates, repaying the confidence of hundreds of customers around the world", concludes the body, in the statement.
In October 2015, through Winterfell Industries, the company acquired a majority stake in Efacec Power Solutions, with Mário Leite da Silva - Isabel dos Santos' 'right-hand man' - chairing the Board of Directors.
Efacec Power Solutions operates in the areas of engineering, energy and mobility.
The announcement of Isabel dos Santos' departure - a defendant in Angola under the 'Luanda Leaks' - comes two days (22 January) after EuroBic announced that the company would sell its stake in the bank, a measure aimed at safeguarding confidence in the institution.
The daughter of the former President is also a shareholder of NOS, through ZOPT, an entity owned by Sonae and Isabel dos Santos, and Galp Energia.
The announcement of the sale of her shareholding in Efacec takes place one day after the three non-executive directors of NOS with links to the company - Jorge Brito Pereira, Mário Leite da Silva and Paula Oliveira - resigned their positions in the operator.
The resignation of these directors occurred one day after the Attorney General's Office announced that Isabel dos Santos had been set up as a defendant in a case in which she is accused of mismanagement and misappropriation of Sonangol's funds and is also alleged to be a Portuguese facilitator of the business of the daughter of former President José Eduardo dos Santos, among whom Mário Leite da Silva and Paula Oliveira.
