By Marta Nogueira
RIO DE JANEIRO, July 22 (Reuters) – Shareholders of Vale on Wednesday elected Manuel Lino Oliveira as chairman of the Brazilian miner’s board, a move backed by top shareholder Previ after weeks of governance tensions.
Oliveira’s election comes after former Chairman Daniel Stieler resigned earlier this month, about a month after pension fund Previ requested a shareholder meeting to vote on his removal.
Previ, which holds about a 7% stake in Vale and manages retirement plans for employees of state-run lender Banco do Brasil, had argued that Oliveira would help strengthen governance at one of the world’s largest iron ore producers.
Oliveira, known as Ollie, already served on Vale’s board as lead independent director.
The vote also follows a clash between Previ and the mining giant’s board over the proposed leadership change.
Last month, the board recommended that shareholders reject Previ’s proposal to remove Stieler, although three directors – including Oliveira – abstained from the vote.
Stieler, who had served as Vale’s chairman since 2023 and as a board member since 2021, ultimately resigned in early July.
Shares in Vale were up more than 3% after the shareholder meeting, outperforming Brazil’s benchmark stock index Bovespa, also supported by strong second-quarter iron ore output figures released late on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Marta Nogueira; Writing by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )
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