IFood integration and Despegar acquisition show strategy to build regional giants instead of scattered holdings.
Prosus, the global technology group that owns iFood, still has about $10 billion available for new investments worldwide — out of the $15 billion announced roughly a year ago — and Latin America is expected to remain a key focus in that plan. The company’s latest regional move was the acquisition of online travel agency Despegar (which operates in Brazil under the brand Decolar) for $1.7 billion.
“When I joined Prosus, I changed the strategy. I don’t want to hold small stakes all over the world — I want to focus on specific regions and create major leaders there,”
said Prosus CEO Fabrício Bloisi at a press conference at B3, the São Paulo stock exchange, on Monday (27). Born in Salvador, Mr. Bloisi assumed Prosus’s global leadership in May 2024 after nearly eight years leading iFood.
Before acquiring Despegar, Prosus made a significant move in Europe by purchasing Eat Takeaway for €4.1 billion, creating the world’s largest delivery company. The group has also expanded in India, which, along with Europe and Latin America, is one of its core markets. Mr. Bloisi says he is “satisfied” with progress so far but emphasizes that this is “just the beginning.”
Now living in the Netherlands, the executive visited Brazil to launch Prosus’s Brazilian Depositary Receipts (BDRs).
“We’re listing Prosus here to bring local investors closer to a major global technology company with a strong presence in Latin America,”
he said.
He mentioned that the presence of tech firms on Brazil’s stock exchange is still small compared to other markets and that Prosus’s entry highlights the sector’s growth potential. When asked about the possibility of a dual listing—trading shares on two exchanges—Mr. Bloisi said, “Let’s celebrate the BDR today and see the next steps later.”
One of Prosus’s main growth drivers in the region has been integrating its various operations, according to Diego Barreto, Prosus’s Latin America head and iFood CEO.
“Early integration results between Despegar and iFood already show iFood contributing to Despegar’s revenue here in Brazil,”
he said.
IFood remains Prosus’s flagship business in Latin America. The company, Brazil’s leader in food delivery, has diversified in recent years beyond its core platform. Its financial services and employee-benefits segments—including meal and food vouchers—have become just as important as its delivery operations.
In 2022, iFood’s ecosystem generated R$97 billion in total gross output, including direct and indirect contributions, which accounted for 0.53% of Brazil’s GDP, according to a study by the Economic Research Institute Foundation (FIPE) commissioned by the company.
Given its scale, the Brazilian platform now occupies a strategic position within the entire Prosus group, Mr. Bloisi said.
“The strength iFood has now is that of a global leader. It innovates here, but it also draws on innovations from Amsterdam that no one else is doing in Latin America,”
he noted.
That strength, said Mr. Bloisi, will help counter increasing competition in the delivery sector, including the return of 99Food and the entry of Keeta, China’s Meituan’s international brand. The executive stated that competition itself is not a concern, but rather how the company positions itself in response.
“If you change your priorities because of competition, it’s a clear sign you weren’t prepared to handle it,” he said. “That’s not our case. We remain focused on product development and growth driven by this ecosystem, investing in the key levers that have already taken the company to another level.”
Source: Valor International
