Via Varejo

Via Varejo S.A.
Sociedade Anónima
Traded as BM&F Bovespa: VVAR3, VVAR4, VVAR11
Industry Retail
Founded 2010
Headquarters São Caetano do Sul, Brazil
Number of locations
 1,036
Area served
 Brazil
Key people
 Ronaldo Iabrudi, (Chairman)
Líbano Miranda Barroso, (CEO)[1]
Revenue Increase R$ 25.752 billion (2014)[2]
Increase R$ 938 million (2014)[2]
Number of employees
 65,160 (2014)
Parent GPA
Subsidiaries Casas Bahia
Nova Pontocom
Ponto Frio
Website www.viavarejo.com.br

Via Varejo is a Brazilian retail company founded in 2010 through the merger of retail companies Casas Bahia, owned by the Klein family, and Ponto Frio, owned by Grupo Pão de Açúcar.

History

In December 2009, Grupo Pão de Açúcar purchased Casas Bahia and transferred its retail units to Globex Utilidades SA, Ponto Frio's parent company which was purchased by the group in June earlier that year.[3]

The company operates retail online through its subsidiary Nova Pontocom, an e-commerce company that was born in 2010 by the merger of the online operations of Casas Bahia, Ponto Frio, and Extra, a hypermarket chain owned by Grupo Pão de Açúcar. Nova Pontocom holds 18% of the market share in Brazilian online retail.[4]

In early 2012, Globex Utilidades officially changed its corporate name to Via Varejo.[5]

In May 2013, it was announced that the Klein family is planning to sell as much as R$ 2 billion (16%) worth of their stake in the company through an IPO.[6][7] 53.7 million common shares of the family's stake began trading on December 16, 2013.[8] Via Varejo raised R$ 2.845 billion through a public offering of shares. Three quarters of the amount raised went to the Klein family, while the rest went to GPA.[9] Ownership of the company has changed to GPA with 43.3%, the Klein family with 27.3%, and minority shareholders with 29.3%.[10]

In October 2013, it was announced that Via Varejo will acquire the remaining 75% stake of Móveis Bartira, an exclusive provider of furniture for Casas Bahia and Ponto Frio, founded by Samuel Klein in 1962.[11][12]

In June 2014, Cnova, a global e-commerce company with a total gross merchandise volume of $4.9 billion, was created through a joint venture between Casino, GPA, Via Varejo and Exito. Cnova will be directly owned 46.5% by Casino (including its subsidiary Exito) and 53.5% indirectly by GPA, Via Varejo and certain founding shareholders of Nova Pontocom.[13][14]

Operations

Via Varejo has a portfolio of e-commerce business units, which include Extra.com.br, CasasBahia.com.br, PontoFrio.com.br, Barateiro.com.br, Partiu Viagens, and e-Plataforma.[15]

As of March 2015, the company has 1,036 stores in Brazil, distributed under the brands Casas Bahia with 665 stores and Ponto Frio with 371 stores.[16] The state with the largest number of Casas Bahia and Ponto Frio stores is São Paulo, with 279 and 138 stores respectively.[17]

References

  1. ↑ "Management and Board of Directors", Viavarejo. Retrieved on 26 April 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "4th Quarter 2014 Earnings Release", Viavarejo. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  3. ↑ Marcelino, Francisco & Fontana, Camila (4 December 2009). "Pao De Acucar Agrees to Buy Casas Bahia; Shares Jump". Bloomberg. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  4. ↑ "Taqtile Signs Leading Brazilian Retailer as Mobile Platform Customer". PR Newswire. 16 July 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  5. ↑ "Globex planeja adotar nome "Via Varejo"". Brasil Econômico. 30 January 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  6. ↑ Brandimarte, Walter (13 May 2013). "Big holder plans to sell nearly $1 billion of Via Varejo stake". Reuters. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  7. ↑ "Brazil's Klein family to sell up to 16 pct stake in Via Varejo". Reuters. 13 May 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  8. ↑ "Brazil's Pao de Acucar, Klein family to sell Via Varejo shares". Reuters. 25 November 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  9. ↑ "Ações da Via Varejo estreiam em alta na Bovespa". UOL (São Paulo). 16 December 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  10. ↑ "Corporate Governance". Via Varejo. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  11. ↑ "Via Varejo pode comprar Móveis Bartira". Meio & Mensagem. 17 October 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  12. ↑ Bezerra, Paula (17 October 2013). "Via Varejo pode ficar com Móveis Bartira, dos Klein ". Exame. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  13. ↑ "Casino Guichard Perrachon sets up with Via Varejo global ecommerce joint venture Cnova". Reuters. 4 June 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  14. ↑ "Casino Group: Creation of a major global ecommerce - Cnova". GlobeNewswire. 4 June 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  15. ↑ "Our Brands", Via Varejo. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  16. ↑ "Via Varejo". Via Varejo. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  17. ↑ "Our Stores", Viavarejo. Retrieved 22 March 2015.

External links