By Tatiana Bautzer
The talks concerning Casino's Via Varejo chain, whichincludes one of
They come as the e-commerce giant and Casino have struck anagreement to sell groceries from the French group's upmarketMonoprix through Amazon.
The
News of the talks sent preferred shares in GPA SA, Casino'sBrazilian supermarket chain that owns Via Varejo, up 5 percentto 67.28 reais in
GPA, Via Varejo and Amazon in
GPA had put Via Varejo up for sale two years ago but thecompany attracted little interest as its then-traditionalinfrastructure kept costs stubbornly high and dragged onprofits. It has since expanded its e-commerce operations.
Units of Via Varejo, a blend of preferred and common stock,rose 4.9 percent in early morning trading in
Amazon has waded slowly into
Reuters reported in recent month that the world's largestonline retailer has been preparing to ramp up its Brazilianpresence, courting local suppliers of appliances and electronicsand eyeing a large warehouse outside of