Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC has led a round of investment of about US$170 million (S$212 million) in a Brazilian online retailer of sporting goods.
The investment in Netshoes comes about a month after the firm opened an office in Sao Paolo, a sign of its growing foothold in Latin America.
Mr Wolfgang Schwerdtle, senior vice-president of GIC Special Investments, said Netshoes was "one of the strongest e-commerce players in the world". GIC Special Investments is the fund's private equity arm.
He also cited "an outstanding management team" and a "stellar group of investors with deep experience in the technology and e-commerce space".
Singapore investment firm Temasek Holdings also holds a stake in Netshoes and was part of the investment round, along with other Netshoes shareholders. Those were New York-based investment firm Tiger Global Management; San Francisco-based Iconiq Capital, which is said to represent Mark Zuckerberg and other early employees of Facebook; and Kaszek Ventures, an Argentinian venture capital fund.
Netshoes was founded in 2000 by Mr Marcio Kumruian, its chief executive, and operates the official online store of the Brazilian national football team.
It also operates online stores for brands such as Oakley, Puma and Havaianas.
It raked in 965 million Brazilian reals last year, a 21 per cent jump from the year before.
Mr Kumruian said that GIC's entry into the firm and the "continued commitment of the current shareholders" would help it grow sustainably while investing in innovation.
Netshoes vice-president of corporate development Jose Rogerio Luiz noted that this round of investment happened "at a time of relative economic instability in the country, which proves the fact that good companies with solid fundamentals remain able to attract the attention of blue chip investors".
GIC will have a seat on the firm's board, which is made up of top company executives, members of investment funds and independent advisors.
This article was published on May 8 in The Straits Times.
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