By Luciana Magalhaes and Alberto Alerigi
SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Dutch technology investor Prosus, which controls major firms including the food delivery app iFood, is set to begin trading Brazilian Depositary Receipts (BDRs) on the B3 Stock Exchange on Monday.
The company, based in Amsterdam, is primarily owned by South Africa’s Naspers and concentrates on food and lifestyle e-commerce in its main markets: Latin America, India, and Europe.
Its BDR listing will allow Brazilian investors to gain exposure to several local companies, such as iFood, the travel booking platform Decolar, and the e-commerce platform OLX, which currently do not have plans to go public, said Diego Barreto, head of Prosus Latin America and CEO of iFood.
“If I were to go public here, I would need to do an IPO (initial public offering) for each company, which necessarily involves raising capital, and this need does not exist,” he said. “There is interest in investing in those companies, and the arrival of Prosus opens this door,” he added.
The launch of BDRs will also enable Brazilian institutional investors, including investment funds with restrictions on international capital allocation or those who have reached their foreign investment limits, to gain exposure to the group, said Barreto.
Prosus has been present in Brazil and in Latin America for about twenty years and plans to continue growing in the region, Barreto said.
iFood, he added, is open to doing more deals in Brazil, where it’s particularly interested in the meal and food voucher segment.
Earlier this year, the app announced taking a 20% stake in technology company CRMBonus for an undisclosed amount.
A few months ago, the Brazilian media also speculated that iFood was in negotiations to buy Alelo, a major player in the employee benefits market, for approximately 5 billion reais ($925.26 million).
Barreto, however, declined to comment on the rumors.
Besides Latin America, Prosus continues expanding in other regions, having recently announced the acquisition of an online travel booking platform in India, home to some of the group’s largest ventures.
Last June, Prosus reported its e-commerce revenue grew by 21%, reaching $6.2 billion, at the close of its fiscal year.
($1 = 5.4039 reais)
(Reporting by Luciana Magalhaes; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )
