With Sonae Sierra since 1991, Guedes de Oliveira was appointed development manager for Europe in 1999, and one year later was invited onto the board of directors. "I am very happy that the transition, that was planned and prepared since the beginning of 2008, has been smooth both for me personally and for the company," Guedes de Oliveira said in a statement. "Sonae Sierra will continue to be…an international specialist in shopping centres, with a passion for bringing innovation and emotion into this industry. At the moment we continue to be focused in six European markets - Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany, Greece and Romania - and Brazil. We will concentrate more efforts in Brazil…and we will continue actively looking to new opportunities." However any decision to enter a new market is dependent on a global economic recovery, he added.

Sonae Sierra manages over 23.7 million square feet in seven different countries, with almost 9,000 tenants. Last year, its 51 shopping centres had more than 436 million visits.