Davis Polk and Simpson Thacher instructed on IPO by Carrefour Brasil

Simpson Thacher advised Atacadão and Carrefour S.A. on the IPO of Carrefour Brasil on the São Paulo Stock Exchange, priced at 15 Brazilian reais per share. David Polk acted for the joint bookrunners.

Atacadão is the holding company of the Carrefour Group in Brazil. Carrefour is Europe’s second largest retailer in terms of sales, it is the controlling shareholder of Carrefour Brasil. 

The transaction consisted of an initial public offering of 297,143,842 (excluding common shares to be sold pursuant to the underwriters’ option to purchase additional common shares) of Carrefour Brasil´s common shares. The offering, which raised R$3,088 million (approximately $974.1 million) in gross proceeds to Atacadão and R$1,368 million (approximately $431.5 million) in gross proceeds to selling shareholders (including an affiliate of Carrefour S.A.), is the largest initial public offering in Brazil in four years. The shares were offered to the public in Brazil, to certain qualified institutional buyers under Rule 144A in the United States, and to non-U.S. persons outside the United States in reliance upon Regulation S. 

Carrefour Brazil is the leading Brazilian food retailer in terms of sales, with a network of 576 points of sale in more than 150 cities in all 26 states of Brazil and the Federal District, including cash & carry stores, wholesale facilities, hypermarkets, supermarkets, convenience stores, drugstores and gas stations, as well as a rapidly expanding e-commerce and marketplace platform.

Partners Grenfel Calheiros and Paulo Fernando Cardoso led the Simpson Thacher team. 

The joint bookrunners instructed Davis Polk with partner Maurice Blanco leading the team.