Never Better

On December 22 the Ceará State-headquarter Pague Menos (“Pay Less”) Drugstores holding company announced that General Atlantic Growth Equity Investments based in New York committed to an investment of R$ 600 million to support the former’s next phase of expansion.

Pague Menos was established in 1981 and today has stores in every Brazilian member State. Its network amounts to 820 stores in 300 different municipalities, growing at the rate of 80 new stores yearly. With around 20,000 employees, it foresees total revenue of R$ 5 billion in 2015.

In his statement General Atlantic CEO Bill Ford pointed out that “Pague Menos has kept a high growth rate even through difficult economic times for Brazil, displaying its resilience and its differentiated proposition of value to its customers”. The same is known to have invested over US$ 1.5 billion since 2000 in Brazil, in segments like animal health products education and investment consulting services.

The transaction comes at a time when business in general is low due to the combination of political and economic adversities currently faced by the country. What is nevertheless remarkable in such story is that it clearly signals to the potential of major gains for investors who dare to act right at this moment.