Yahoo Finance Singapore invests in Brazil online sports retailer
Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC has bought a stake in Brazilian online sports goods retailer Netshoes in a further diversification of its vast global portfolio.
GIC said in a statement that it led a new round of investment in Netshoes of $170 million, along with other investors including Singapore state investment arm Temasek Holdings, Tiger Global Management, Iconiq Capital and Kaszek Ventures.
It did not give a breakdown of the investment in Netshoes, which has a network in sports-crazy Brazil, Argentina and Mexico.
"We believe that Netshoes is one of the strongest e-commerce players in the world," Wolfgang Schwerdtle, GIC's senior vice president in charge of special investments, said in a statement posted on its website Wednesday.
Jose Rogerio Luiz, vice president of corporate development for Netshoes, welcomed the investment, the largest in the company's history, as a vote of confidence coming "at a time of relative economic instability in the country".
Recent growth has been slow in Brazil, in part because of the economic drain of playing host to the World Cup.
The investment by GIC comes a month after it opened an office in Brazil as it looks to increase its investments in Latin America.
The fund on May 2 also announced a $77 million investment in the parent of Philippine canned food producer Century Pacific Food Inc.
GIC, which says it manages "well over $100 billion" of total government reserves, said last year that it was adopting a new investment approach which would give it the ability to take short-term risks in order to achieve better long-term gains.
