BR Malls and Sonae create the largest shopping mall chain in Brazil

BR Malls Participacoes and Aliance Sonae Shopping Centers may merge to form Brazil’s largest mall operator.

As a result of the merger, Alliance Sonae Shopping Centers and BR Malls Participacoes will become Brazil’s largest mall operator. The combined company will be valued at more than 12 billion reais, or $2.6 billion. 

As reported by Reuters, Aliansce Sonae has offered to buy BR Malls in order to create the country’s largest chain of malls, consisting of almost 70 shopping centers. 

BR Malls and Aliansce Sonae are currently the second- and third-largest mall operators in Brazil. BR Malls is capitalised at R$7.2 billion and Aliansce Sonae is valued at R$5.6 billion. On the news of the new proposal, BR Malls shares rose more than 7%, while Aliansce Sonae securities rose 1.5%. 

In a fight between malls and the rapidly growing e-commerce market, whose position has improved dramatically over the past two years, this deal may be landmark. 

Aliansce Sonae is offering BR Malls shareholders a cash payment of R$1.25 billion and a 55.2% stake in the combined company. The payout comprises 326 million Aliansce shares worth R$6.9 billion. 

Past offers have been rejected by shareholders of BR Malls, who said they would negotiate if the terms of the offer represented “fair value” for the company. The common shareholder of the two companies is the Canadian Pension Investment Board (CPPIB), which owns 28.5% of Aliansce and 10.8% of BR Malls.