Americanas considers partnering with rival to contain crisis
Americanas’s primary shareholders do not rule out the possibility of partnering with a major digital rival if the retailer’s operation reveals a strong turnaround in the coming months, as Valor learned. One year after the biggest accounting fraud by a Brazilian privately-held company came to light, Americanas should now focus on its restructuring plan, which has among its main strategies boosting sales in brick-and-mortar stores.The plan to associate with a digital competitor will depend on the group’s operational performance from now on, including its ability to prove viable to potential partners, a person familiar with the matter said.According to this person, it is crucial to first see "what will remain of Americanas" from the ongoing restructuring, to then think about a partnership in the next 12 to 24 months. "Seeking a partnership with a strong digital [retailer] could be a solution."With bankruptcy debts totaling R$43 billion, the retailer had its restructuring plan approved on December 19 by 97% of creditors (in credit value). A year ago, the group announced to the market a $20 billion accounting loss, which is still under investigation.Today, the digital operation, the central focus of fraud investigation, is seen by the market as the group’s biggest problem, while the physical stores arm is considered more resilient and was less affected by the crisis, as the current management has stated.In a possible deal involving a digital partner, Americanas would offer a network of points of sales spread across the country—under the restructuring plan, the idea is to cut by 10% the number of 1,800 units owned by Lojas Americanas before the crisis. These are properties with a strategic relevance for the online marketplace operations that use, for example, the format of digital purchase with in-store pickup.Before moving forward with the idea of an agreement, Americanas will focus on a cash generation plan between 2024 and 2025 to support the physical and digital business, company leaders said last week. If that advances, the idea is to leave the court-supervised reorganization in 2026, a scenario that would facilitate possible partnerships.Senior executives leading Americanas’s rivals interviewed by Valor say they don’t see room for a negotiation right now, given the high level of uncertainty involving the group, since internal and external investigations on the fraud have not yet been concluded.The managing director of an online marketplace...
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