Companhia Brasileira de Distribuicao, Brazil’s biggest and foremost retailer, is to acquire the remaining stake in Sendas for an estimated $225 million. The move will effectively turn over 100 per cent ownership of Sendas to the giant retailer. In its announcement, Companhia Brasileira de Distribuicao said it will pick up the remaining 42.57 per cent that it does not currently have in Sendas.

Sendas is a leading local supermarket retail chain in Brazil. Companhia Brasileira de Distribuicao acquired 57.43 per cent of Sendas back in 2004. According to its announcement, Companhia Brasileira de Distribuicao will pay for the investment through a series of seven installments.

The Company said the first one, in the amount of 59 million Brazilian reals, is to be paid on the date of the closing of the acquisition, and the remaining balance, in the total amount of 318 million real, in six equal, consecutive, annual installments of 53 million reals, the first one being due on July 1, 2011, in that the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th installments shall be monetarily updated under the (official inflation index) IPCA’s positive variation, based on the month of July 2010.

Companhia Brasileira de Distribuicao is jointly controlled by the Diniz family of Sao Paulo, the chain’s founders, and French retail company Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA. Its main competitors in Brazil include U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and France’s Carrefour SA.

Companhia Brasileira de Distribuicao, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a retailer and wholesaler of food products, bazaar articles, clothing, home appliances, and other products through its chain of hypermarkets, supermarkets, specialized and department stores, convenience stores, and the Internet in Brazil.

The company operates its stores under the Pao de Acucar, CompreBem, Extra, Extra Eletro, Extra Perto, Extra Facil, Extra.com, Sendas, Assai, and Ponto Frio e PontoFrio.com names. As of December 31, 2009, it operated 1,080 stores. The company is headquartered in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Sendas is a supermarket chain in Rio de Janeiro State, currently owned by Grupo Pão de Açúcar (Companhia Brasileira de Distribuicao’s trading name). Prior to the Pão de Açúcar takeover, Sendas owned Sendas supermarkets, Bon Marché hypermarkets and Casa Show home improvement stores.

After the transaction, Bon Marché stores were rebranded as Extra Bon Marché (part of Extra Hipermercados), and Casa Show was spun off.