Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has acquired a 12.4 percent stake in Latin American fitness chain Smart Fit. The investment was for C$340 million. Smart Fit, which currently serves 2.5 million members across 739 locations in ten countries, is headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil

São Paulo, Brazil/Toronto, Canada (November 26, 2019): Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (“CPPIB”) has invested R$1,071 million (C$340 million) for a 12.4% stake in Smartfit Escola de Ginástica e Dança S.A. (“Smart Fit”), broadening its investments in Latin America. Smart Fit is Latin America’s largest fitness chain, serving 2.5 million members across 739 locations in ten countries. Founded in 1996, the company is headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil. “Smart Fit offers CPPIB the opportunity to increase its exposure to Latin America through a market-leading company within the fast-growing personal fitness space.

Backed by a strong management team and with a solid track record of success, Smart Fit is ideally positioned to take advantage of the increased focus on health and fitness in the region, ” said Tania Chocolat, Managing Director, Head of Direct Equity Investments Latin America, CPPIB. CPPIB has been directly investing in Latin America since 2006 and established an office in São Paulo in 2014. The organization now has more than $16.4 billion invested in Latin America. As a significant, and growing, investor in Latin America, CPPIB has investments in real estate, infrastructure, debt, and public and private equity.

ABOUT CANADA PENSION PLAN INVESTMENT BOARD

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) is a professional investment management organization that invests the funds not needed by the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) to pay current benefits in the best interests of 20 million contributors and beneficiaries.

In order to build diversified portfolios of assets, CPPIB invests in public equities, private equities, real estate, infrastructure and fixed income instruments. Headquartered in Toronto, with offices in Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, New York City, San Francisco, São Paulo and Sydney, CPPIB is governed and managed independently of the Canada Pension Plan and at arm’s length from governments. At September 30, 2019, the CPP Fund totalled $409.5 billion.

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