Assaí Atacadista

Assaí Atacadista (Sendas Distribuidora S.A.) is a significant player in the Brazilian wholesale and retail sector. Founded in 1974 by Rodolfo Jungi Nagai in São Paulo, the brand was created to provide a specialized shopping experience for small businesses and transform into one of the country's largest 'cash and carry' networks.

The brand underwent a major transformation in 2007 when the GPA group (Grupo Pão de Açúcar) acquired a 60% stake, eventually taking full control in 2011. However, in 2021, the brand was spun off from GPA to become an independent, publicly traded company on both the B3 in São Paulo and the NYSE in New York. While the French group Casino was previously the primary controller, it divested its entire stake in 2023, leaving Assaí as a truly independent Brazilian corporation with a pulverized ownership structure mainly held by investment funds and institutional investors.