A Brazil-based books, CDs and toys seller Wednesday landed $71.3 million in
its second round of financing, a catch which its investors believe is the
largest investment in an overseas e-tailer.
Net investor TH Lee.Putnam Internet Partners (THLi) and European venture
capitalist Europ@web led the investment in Submarino.com. Other investors included
Capital Riesgo Internet-Banco Santander Central Hispano, Soros Private
Equity Partners LP, Chase Capital Partners, and Goldman, Sachs & Co.
The e-tailer offers more than half a million book titles, CDs and toys from
its local sites in Spain, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina. It will use the
investment to enhance services and expand into additional markets, according
to Submarino.com’s chief executive officer, Antonio Bonchristiano.
“There is enormous demand for a strongly branded, quality-service, online
commerce offering that addresses the needs of
consumers in Latin America, the Iberian Peninsula and other Spanish-and
Portuguese-language regions,” said Carlos Monfiglio, vice president of THLi.
“Submarino.com is not only the first online retailer to penetrate this
important market — it has the capital base, management and market
penetration to quickly become the dominant player in this segment.”
Andre de Baubigny, managing director of Europ@web, said that the involvement
represents “an important first step for Europ@web’s expansion into a new
continent.”
THLi’s portfolio companies include Wine.com, HomePoint, Krause’s Furniture, and
FaceTime Communications. Europ@web, the Internet arm of Groupe Arnault which
holds a fund reservoir of 500 million euros ($505 million), has an
investment stable which includes Webvan,
PlanetRX, Ashford.com, E-Loan, and QXL.
Europ@web last month teamed to create a finance portal in a project valued
at more than 100 million euros (US$101 million). Ze Project is meant to be the first step
in the development of a retail financial portal, an idea which originated at
Europ@web. With Dexia’s new investment, it will receive a 20 percent stake
in Ze Project, while Europ@web will retain 80 percent.