Grupo Mateus Has Stellar Debut on B3 With The Largest Brazilian IPO of 2020

In early October, retail giant Grupo Mateus debuted on the Brazilian stock exchange B3 and recorded the largest domestic IPO of 2020, reaching the R$4.6 billion mark.

The group holds the fourth largest cash and carry store in Brazil and, as of November of 2020, had 137 stores in the states of Maranhão, Pará e Piauí and over 20 thousand employees. In 2019, the company reached R$10 billion in revenue and R$388 million in liquid profit, whilst in the first semester of 2020, its numbers increased 62%, reaching an outstanding R$297 million profit in only six months. 

Ilson Mateus, Grupo Mateus’ founder and CEO, previously worked as a small-scale gold miner before starting his business in 1986, by opening a small grocery store in the impoverished city of Imperatriz (MA). In September of 2020, Mr. Mateus broke into Brazil's top 10 billionaires list with an estimated fortune of R$20 billion, according to Forbes Brasil's annual ranking.

Grupo Mateus's IPO was coordinated by the leading financial institutions of the country - XP Inc., Banco Bradesco, BTG Pactual, Banco Safra, Banco do Brasil, Santander and Itaú.

“In Brazil, only few invest in projects of digital transformation, expansion and in distribution centers. The executives of  Grupo Mateus are amongst them.”, stated Ana Paula Tozzi, CEO of well-known business management group AGR Consultores. “The people of São Paulo only know São Paulo’s operations, the people of Minas only know operations from Minas, and so on. Nobody knew Grupo Mateus until now and they will profit billions this year, it’s surreal.”, she added.