RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil Retail chain Lojas Americans will pay 182.6 million reals ($87.4 million; euro67.6 million) for Blockbuster Inc.’s Brazilian operations, the company said in a statement Wednesday.
Lojas Americanas is buying the video rental service company’s Brazil franchise from Unibanco Empreendimentos e Participacoes, an arm of private bank Unibanco SA, which brought Blockbuster to Brazil in 1994. The deal is expected to be approved by Lojas Americanas shareholders within 60 days and be completed by May, the company said.
With the deal, Lojas Americanas assumes control of the video rental chain’s 127 Brazilian stores and the rights to operate and develop the franchise under the Blockbuster brand.
Unibanco opened the first Blockbuster store in Sao Paulo in 1995. Since then, the company has grown its client base to 330,000 across the nation.
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