BTG Pactual takes 8.58% of Brazil's Total Express as Abril settles debt
What's the deal? Brazil's Grupo Abril is transferring an 8.58% stake in the holding company that controls logistics firm Total ExpressDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → to BTG PactualDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, InvestNews reported. The publisher is handing over the shares to settle a debt owed to the bank.
The terms: The stake will be transferred in Total Express Holding LLC, which owns all shares of Tex Courier — the logistics company's registered name. The debt value, tied to a series of Abril debentures, was not disclosed. The deal still requires clearance from the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade).
Why now? To cut its debt, Abril is giving up part of a profitable business. In 2025, Total Express posted consolidated net revenue of R$1.84 billion, up 5.2% year on year, though net profit fell 11.3% to R$67 million.
The logistics firm also rewards shareholders. It paid R$49.7 million in dividends in 2025, with a further R$65.2 million approved in December 2025 and confirmed this year.
An old relationship: The deal deepens ties that formed during Abril's court-ordered restructuring. In 2019, BTG-controlled Enforce bought the claims BradescoDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, ItaúDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and SantanderDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → held against the publisher — roughly R$1.2 billion of a R$1.6 billion total debt. That year BTG also acquired Exame, buying the magazine, site, and events division for R$72.3 million.
What came before? Total Express had already drawn a heavyweight partner. In 2022, Amazon acquired 9.68% of the company, leaving 90.32% with Abril.
The signal: BTG continues to convert Abril's obligations into ownership stakes across its assets, steadily expanding its footprint in a company it helped restructure. For Abril, the trade-off is clear: shedding equity in a growing logistics business to lighten its balance sheet.
Read more: investnews.com.br
Image credit: TOTAL EXPRESS
