White & Case Advises Casino Group and GPA on Sale of US$550 Million Stake in Grupo Éxito to Grupo Calleja

Global law firm White & Case LLP has advised French retail conglomerate Casino Group and its subsidiary, Brazilian food retailer Grupo Pão de Açúcar (GPA), in the sale of their combined 47% stake in Grupo Éxito, a leading retailer in South America with operations in Colombia, Uruguay and Argentina, to El Salvador-based food retailer Grupo Calleja, for an aggregate amount of approximately US$550 million. The sales were conducted through first-of-their-kind, cross-border tender offers in Colombia and the United States, pursuant to which Grupo Calleja acquired nearly 87% of Grupo Éxito's outstanding share capital for more than US$1 billion. Casino Group and GPA participated in the tender offers pursuant to a pre-agreement they entered into with Grupo Calleja to tender all of their shares of Grupo Éxito. Following this transaction, Casino Group and GPA no longer own any equity interest in Grupo Éxito.

The White & Case Capital Markets team was led by partners Karen Katri (Miami) and John Vetterli (New York), and included M&A partner Neeta Sahadev (Silicon Valley).

In 2023, White & Case LLP also represented GPA in connection with their partial spin-off of Grupo Éxito, pursuant to which holders of GPA's common shares and American Depositary Shares (ADSs) received Brazilian Depositary Receipts and ADSs of Grupo Éxito, respectively. In connection with the spin-off, White & Case LLP also advised Grupo Éxito on their inaugural listing of ADSs on the New York Stock Exchange. Grupo Éxito is triple listed on the Colombian Stock Exchange (BVC), New York Stock Exchange and São Paulo Stock Exchange (B3).

The White & Case Capital Markets team was led by partners Karen Katri (Miami) and John Vetterli (New York), and included counsel Bree Peterson (London) and international law clerk Camilo Vasquez (São Paulo). They were assisted by tax partner David Dreier (New York) and associate Leslie Lin (Houston).

In Latin America, White & Case advises on the full range of debt and equity transactions, and the Firm has achieved a leading reputation for routinely advising on "first to market" and award-winning transactions. Our Latin America-wide Capital Markets practice is among the most highly-ranked of international law firms, according to the most recent editions of The Legal 500 Latin America, Chambers Latin America and Chambers Brazil.

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