Juan Sartori

Juan Sartori (born February 6, 1981) is an Uruguayan businessman and politician. He is the president and founder of Union Group, a privately owned conglomerate which holds significant interests in businesses spanning the agricultural, energy, forestry, infrastructure, minerals, oil and gas and real estate sectors in Latin America. Sartori is also one of the main shareholders of League One English football team, Sunderland, which he acquired together with a consortium of partners in 2018.

Union Group

Sartori started Union Group in Uruguay in 2006 with a blueberry farming business, subsequently branching out into rice, soya bean and wheat production, and sheep and cattle raising. In 2008, he founded Union Agriculture Group (UAG) to manage his agricultural interests and, in 2013, floated UAG on the Montevideo Stock Exchange. UAG was the largest company to list on the exchange and, as of 11 June 2014, accounted for approximately 70 per cent of its market capitalisation. UAG is the largest agriculture business in Uruguay with 180,000 ha (440,000 acres) of land and 85,000 heads of cattle.

Union Group has since expanded into a range of other sectors. In 2010, Sartori began investing in energy generation projects in Latin America. In 2013 Union Group acquired Peruvian hydropower company Generacion Andina from German utility company EnBW (Energie Baden-Wurttemberg),. In 2015, Union Group secured a $59m financing package from a consortium of banks for two hydropower projects, bringing the overall investment into energy assets in the region to around 1GW. The plants are forecast to supply 15 per cent of Peru's energy needs.

He is currently in the directive of Union Acquisition Corp, publicly traded on the New York stock exchange, as well as in Charlotte’s Web Holdings, listed on the Canadian stock exchange. After graduating from college in 2002, he began his career as an investor and businessman with the foundation of Union Capital Group. At the age of 22 he became the asset manager of multiple strategies based in Geneva. He raised the company’s asset-value over a thousand-million dollars under his administration before selling it to the rest of the directive.

Another Union Group subsidiary, Union Oil and Gas Group (UOGG), acquired 80 per cent of Peruvian onshore oil and gas Block 183 in the Marañon Basin, as well as a 50 per cent stake in Block 105 located in the Titicaca Basin. UOGG's portfolio also includes oil exploration blocks in Paraguay and Bolivia. In 2015, Union Group signed a deal with China Communication Construction Company (CCCC), one of the biggest engineering and construction companies in the world, to finance and develop infrastructure projects across Latin America. Sartori has also invested in mining operations, particularly in Paraguay and Peru, with a diversified portfolio of assets including iron ore, nickel, titanium, gold and diamond projects.

Union Group is a developer and operator of residential and commercial real estate assets in Uruguay and Peru.

Football

Sartori has taking the role of director Sunderland A.F.C. with a 20% stake at a cost of £1.

Politics

In December 2018 he presented his nomination to President of Uruguay for the 2019 primary elections. He have competed against Enrique Antía, Carlos Iafigliola, Jorge Larrañaga and Luis Lacalle Pou. The election was held on June 30, 2019. Sartori obtained 20.68%, being defeated by Lacalle Pou.

Sartori headed a list to the Senate, for the October general election. Elected Senator, a position he assumed on February 15, 2020.

Sartori married Russian heiress and equestrian Ekaterina Rybolovleva, daughter of cardiologist and oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev, on October 21, 2015 on Skorpios, which she bought from Athina Onassis in 2013.