The retailer’s chief executive said the planned IPO in Latin America’s premier economy remains in the freezer “until the momentum becomes attractive”. “We’re not sure what year it is,” he added.
Chilean retail giant Cencosud is determined to continue strengthening its businesses in Brazil and the United States. Its general manager, Matias Videla, informed this after presenting the company’s results in the fourth quarter of last year.
As indicated, both operations positively impacted revenue in 2022, raising it to 26.5% more than in the previous period. Discounting the contribution of The Fresh Market (acquired in May 2022 in the United States) and Giga Atacado (acquired in July of the same year in Brazil), sales grew by 9.2%.
“We are not considering new acquisitions, except in the case of Brazil (…) We also see potential acquisitions in the United States”, said Videla, noting that any final deal in these cases would be “minor”.
The above, outlined by the CEO, is in line with the strategy outlined by the Chilean to continue dominating the two shows. Videla’s idea is that any possible acquisition will allow the company to accelerate organic growth more efficiently, which includes the commitment to “integrate cash and carry-jobs into Cencosud’s options”.
In the case of the United States, everything will be focused on strengthening the concept of The Fresh Market brand, of which the Chilean company owns 67% since last year and was one of the drivers of results until the end of the year.
Enrollment
Market conditions are not given. Videla was very strong about the Chilean ambition to open up to the Brazilian stock exchange, a bet that he announced in 2020 and that, given the market conditions, as the CEO emphasized, is still pending.
“We don’t consider it the moment, the evaluations are not attractive and Cencosud doesn’t need to do that”, said the executive who specified at this moment that the company is prepared from the procedural point of view.
“Brazil continues to grow and does not need this influx to continue accelerating and growing (…) so this IPO will be analyzed when the market is attractive”, he said. He said he wasn’t sure 2023 was the year to take that step.
