GPA sells Assaí stores to real estate fund for BRL 1.2 billion

GPA (Grupo Pão de Açúcar) announced this Friday (25) an agreement for the sale of up to 17 properties owned by the company to the real estate fund Barzel Properties for around R$ 1.2 billion.

According to a statement to the market, the properties will later be leased by the wholesale chain Assaí for a period of 25 years, renewable for another 15 years. Closing the transaction still requires approval from competition authorities.

Both GPA and Assaí are controlled by the French group Casino, while Barzel Properties is a joint venture formed by the Singapore sovereign wealth fund (GIC), and local investors led by former Cyrela executive Nessim Sarfati.

The deal comes as GPA seeks to convert hypermarket stores under the Extra Hiper banner into cash and carry units that will be operated by Assaí.

In October of last year, in line with this plan, GPA announced an agreement worth R$ 5.2 billion for the sale of 71 stores to Assaí.

According to the statement on Friday (25), most of the stores involved in the transaction have already been assigned to Assaí, with expectations that the remaining points will be transferred by the end of the first quarter of this year.

Assaí expects to open about 50 new stores in 2022, 10 of which are organic — with opening in the first half of the year — and 40 are converted to the cash and carry format, with openings expected in the second half.

The other converted stores should be opened by the end of the first quarter of 2023, said Assaí, reiterating that it aims to reach R$ 100 billion in revenue and more than 300 stores in operation in 2024.

GPA, in turn, stated that it starts the year with “a leaner structure, focus on the banners with greater profitability and performance and acceleration of the digital platform”, also mentioning the conversion of its hypermarkets into Pão de Açúcar and Mercado Extra stores.