Netshoes, the largest online retailer for sporting goods in Latin America, has received additional equity worth US$170 million in a new round of funding led by Singapore's sovereign fund, GIC Special Investments. Other investors were Temasek Holdings of Singapore, Tiger Global Management, Iconiq Capital and Kaszek Ventures.
GIC will have a seat on the board of directors of the Brazilian company, founded by Marcio Kumruian in 2000, which has become the second-largest retail partner for big brands such as Nike and Adidas in Brazil after Grupo SBF, parent company of the Centauro chain of sporting goods stores. Paul Tagliabue, a former president of the National Football League in the U.S., is one of the directors of Netshoes.
We are not surprised that Singapore's sovereign fund is investing in Netshoes. The government of the tiny state, along with some private entrepreneurs, has been investing in other aspects of the sporting goods business to position itself as an Asian hub in the sector.
We could not obtain yet Netshoes' results for 2013. In 2012, its net sales increased by 62.8 percent to 783.1 million reais (€255.67m-$354.16m), but its net losses nearly doubled to R$39.9 million (€13.03m-$18.04m). Much of the Brazilian company's growth was due to its expansion into Mexico and Argentina.
Grupo SBF probably kept its leading position in the Brazilian market last year. The company says its net sales rose to R$1,715.7 million (€559.94m-$775.64m) in 2013 from R$1,463 million in the prior year. A Brazilian equity fund, GP Investiments, acquired a stake of 30 percent in Grupo SBF at the end of 2012.
