Portuguese billionaire Pedro Queiroz Pereira, whose holding company Semapa controls paper and pulp producer The Navigator Company and cement maker Secil, died on Saturday aged 69, an official spokesman said.

Queiroz Pereira was chairman of Semapa and The Navigator Company. Both of these publicly traded companies have separate chief executive officers. His family holds 71 per cent of Semapa. He is survived by his daughters Filipa, Mafalda and Lua.

The former race car driver was Portugal’s fifth richest person with a net worth of about EUR1.1bn (US$1.3bn), according to Forbes Portugal.