The financial market reacted optimistically to the announcement by Guararapes, owner of Riachuelo , of the sale of Midway Mall, a shopping center in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, for R$ 1.61 billion to a group of investors led by Capitânia Capital .

Around 2 PM on Thursday, December 18th, Guararapes' shares were up 7.1% on the B3 stock exchange. Year-to-date, the company's shares have accumulated a 94% increase. The company is valued at R$ 5.5 billion.

In a relevant fact, the owner of Riachuelo informed that, of the total deal, R$ 805 million was paid in cash and the remaining balance, which would be paid in four annual installments, will be settled on December 29th, through an operation to anticipate future installments contracted with BTG Pactual.

Analysts considered the deal positive for the company. "We consider this widely anticipated announcement positive for Guararapes, especially as it highlights how discounted the company's core businesses—the retail and financial segments—are at current prices," says a Santander report.

In the document signed by Eric Huang, Lucas Esteves, and Vitor Fuziharo, the bank states that the deal was in line with market expectations regarding the sale. However, it also says that, in the composition of Guararapes' EBITDA, the shopping mall represents only about 5% of the consolidated indicator.

“By excluding the shopping mall from both the company's market value (assuming a valuation of R$ 1.61 billion for the asset) and the 2026 net profit (assuming a 34% tax rate for the mall), we arrive at a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of 6.6 times as expected for next year, which represents a discount of approximately 20% compared to its main peers,” the experts state.

According to Santander, the company continues to outperform its peers. "We believe this announcement should further enhance shareholders' perception of management's efforts to optimize capital allocation as part of the company's ongoing transformation process."

With a similar assessment, Itaú believes that the negotiation for the sale of the shopping mall in Rio Grande do Norte was, in fact, under conditions that exceeded expectations. "Although the sale was already expected (and therefore partially priced in), we believe that the economic terms were better than anticipated, which should generate a positive market reaction," says the bank.

"Currently, Guararapes trades at 8.6 times P/E as an estimate for 2026, and we estimate that, after the transaction, investors will receive a dividend yield of 28% and the stock will trade at 10.5 times P/E next year," says a report from the Itaú consumer segment analyst team, led by Rodrigo Gastim.

In the bank's view, the initiative reinforces the company's thesis of disciplined capital allocation and internal actions to amplify the company's earnings per share, based on improvements in the group's operational efficiency.

"At Investor Day, management highlighted internal levers to boost productivity per square meter, efficiency, margin expansion, and disciplined growth, explicitly citing the monetization of non-strategic real estate assets as part of the roadmap ," says Itaú.

“In our view, this transaction reinforces that management has been executing this strategy and should continue to deliver increasing returns. We reiterate our outperform recommendation,” he added.

In addition to announcing the sale of Midway Mall, Guararapes also informed the market of the approval, by its board of directors, of a total distribution of R$ 1.48 billion to shareholders, of which R$ 1.075 billion is earmarked for dividends. According to the company, the amount will be paid on December 30th, with a record date of December 22nd.

In addition to dividends, Guararapes also approved the payment of R$ 413 million in interest on equity, planned to be paid on January 5th, also with a record date of December 22nd.

"The destination of the proceeds from the sale, in the form of dividends and interest on equity, should also be well received by the market, representing a 29% return to shareholders at current prices," assesses Santander.

Guararapes reported a 63% increase in net profit in the third quarter, compared to the same period of the previous year, reaching R$ 74 million. Net revenue from apparel in the period reached R$ 1.5 billion, a 7.6% increase compared to the third quarter of 2024.