Brazilian retailer Americanas SA has announced that it will begin seeking potential bidders for the acquisition of its Hortifruti Natural da Terra (HNT) business unit. The company has hired Citigroup Global Markets Brazil as the financial adviser for conducting the process. Americanas has also started evaluating strategic alternatives for its financial services arm Ame, including preliminary contacts with potential interested parties.
The retailer entered bankruptcy protection this year and is struggling to find funds to deal with billions of dollars in debt. To this end, it proposed a recovery plan in late March that included the sale of some of its assets. Americanas has also hired Citi Bank as a financial adviser to conduct the sale process of Grupo Uni.co, a gift shop group.
The sale of these assets could bring additional funding for the troubled company and help it leave the bankruptcy restructuring process as soon as this year.