Brazilian retailer Lojas Americanas SA acquired grocery chain Hortifruti Natural da Terra for USD402m.

(Press Release) – Partners Group, a leading global private markets firm, has agreed, on behalf of its clients, to sell Hortifruti Natural da Terra (“Hortifruti” or “the Company”), Brazil’s largest fresh food retail chain, to Brazilian conglomerate Americanas S.A. (“Americanas”). The transaction values Hortifruti at an enterprise value of BRL 2.4 billion.

Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Hortifruti is Brazil’s largest retail chain specializing in fresh products such as fruits, legumes, and vegetables (“FLV”), with 73 stores. Hortifruti is the most technologically advanced fresh food retailer in the country, with 16% of sales stemming from digital channels in 2020, providing a critical service to customers during the COVID 19 outbreak as people increasingly relied on online delivery services to obtain food and other everyday items. The Company has a loyal customer base, with more than 1.4 million members in its loyalty program, and clients who, on average, shop at Hortifruti stores more than 34 times annually.

Over the last five years, Partners Group employed its entrepreneurial governance approach at Hortifruti to support the implementation of several transformational value creation initiatives and drive the Company’s strong growth. Partners Group helped the business almost double its store base through both organic expansion and add-on acquisitions, created and expanded its online capabilities, the need for which was further accelerated by the pandemic, and optimized its delivery of fresh products to homes within two to six hours, ensuring the same high level of service and product quality that shoppers are accustomed to when buying in person.