French retailer Casino raises US$780 million with the sale of a stake in Brazil’s Assaí
Casino Guichard-Perrachon Group has raised R$4.1 billion reais (US$783.7 million) from selling another stake in Brazilian wholesaler Assaí, a deal to reduce the French retailer’s debt.
Casino announced Friday the sale of 254 million Assaí shares at R$16 each, including an additional quota, confirming an earlier Bloomberg report.
This represents a discount of about 1.5% from Thursday’s close.
Casino, which had already divested another stake in November, thus relinquishes control of the Brazilian wholesaler, and its stake now falls to 11.7%.
Assaí, formally known as Sendas Distribuidora SA, did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent by e-mail after business hours.
The sale represents Brazil’s first stock offering this year, when turmoil over the country’s change of government, high-interest rates, and surprise corporate bankruptcies have roiled markets.
Recently, concerns about the US financial system have affected global assets, adding further volatility to trading.
Casino, meanwhile, has shed assets as investors become increasingly concerned about the retailer’s financial leverage.
The company is raising more than the US$600 million initially expected from the sale.
The divestiture of its most attractive Latin American division “suggests that French operating performance won’t be strong enough to generate enough cash,” Charles Allen, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, wrote in a note.
The Brazilian stock market had last seen a share offering in December when G2D Investments Ltd raised R$70 million in a sale of depositary receipts.
Casino had sold some R#2.7 billion in Assaí shares a month earlier.
The deal, scheduled to close on March 21, was led by Banco BTG Pactual SA, Banco Bradesco BBI SA, Banco Itaú BBA SA and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Goldman Sachs Group Inc, UBS BB Investment Bank, Citigroup Inc, Credit Suisse Group AG, Banco Safra SA, and Banco Santander Brasil SA.
With information from Bloomberg
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Brazil — Live Market Board
+0.46%
183,827.59
+0.46%
65,071.30
+0.20%
11,055.91
-0.73%
2,782,561
-0.59%
2,558.92
-0.79%
60,220.45
+0.32%
| Instrument | Last | Change | YoY | Prev. | High | Low | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IBOV | 183,827.59 | +0.46% | +21.85% | 182,991.13 | 168,310 | 167,142 | — |
| USD/BRL | 5.16 | +0.01% | -5.13% | 5.16 | 5.18 | 5.14 | — |
| SELIC | 14.00% | — | — | — | — | — | |
| PETR4 | 41.64 | -0.05% | +35.19% | 41.66 | 41.97 | 41.15 | 41,499,400 |
| VALE3 | 72.97 | +0.83% | +30.75% | 72.37 | 73.54 | 72.66 | 17,658,000 |
| ITUB4 | 38.60 | -1.03% | +4.57% | 39.00 | 39.34 | 38.39 | 29,487,800 |
| BBDC4 | 16.85 | +0.36% | +3.50% | 16.79 | 16.90 | 16.67 | 19,416,900 |
| BBAS3 | 19.37 | +0.47% | +0.73% | 19.28 | 19.44 | 19.16 | 11,069,200 |
| B3SA3 | 14.26 | -0.21% | +12.73% | 14.29 | 14.47 | 14.11 | 33,037,800 |
| ABEV3 | 14.89 | -0.80% | +21.91% | 15.01 | 15.07 | 14.81 | 16,453,100 |
| WEGE3 | 47.59 | +0.49% | +29.99% | 47.36 | 48.08 | 47.36 | 3,364,600 |
| PRIO3 | 59.14 | -0.19% | +50.67% | 59.25 | 59.81 | 58.74 | 3,325,600 |
| SUZB3 | 41.33 | +2.35% | -23.55% | 40.38 | 41.48 | 40.35 | 3,914,900 |
| RENT3 | 34.68 | -0.09% | +0.84% | 34.71 | 34.96 | 34.35 | 7,979,100 |
| AZZA3 | 15.89 | -2.63% | -53.76% | 16.32 | 16.42 | 15.82 | 1,330,300 |
| CSNA3 | 4.30 | +0.47% | -42.65% | 4.28 | 4.41 | 4.26 | 10,076,100 |
| GGBR4 | 24.69 | +2.19% | +51.38% | 24.16 | 24.85 | 24.18 | 7,047,600 |
| ENEV3 | 24.21 | -1.38% | +70.49% | 24.55 | 24.64 | 23.99 | 9,297,000 |
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