SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Stellantis said on Friday it will buy a 70% controlling stake in Brazilian car services company DPaschoal. The company is making its latest move to expand its presence in Latin America.
Stellantis did not provide details on how much it paid for the stake.
The company has focused on selling auto parts to its own car dealerships in Brazil, but through this acquisition it will expand its presence in Latin America's largest economy. DPaschoal's has 123 stores and 2,800 employees across the country, the companies said in a presentation.
The deal comes as U.S. auto parts retailer Autozone is also expanding its presence in Brazil by opening new stores, and Stellantis acquired a controlling stake in Argentine auto parts chain Norauto last year. This is what follows.
“The auto parts market is very fragmented in Brazil,” Paulo Solti, vice president of components and services South America at Stellantis, told reporters.
“With the acquisition of DPaschoal, the second largest company in the industry, we will become the largest auto parts distributor in Brazil and Latin America,” he said.
Emanuele Capellano, Stellantis' South American president, added that DPaschoal's annual revenue is about 2.5 billion reais ($507.87 million), slightly less than Stellantis' MOPAR components business in the country.
(1 dollar = 4.9225 reais)
(Reporting by Alberto Alerisi Jr.; Writing by Andre Romani; Editing by Jane Merriman)
