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Cencosud's Cash Spree Shows Regional Strategics Now Own LatAm Consolidation

A US$158M all-cash grab for Makro Colombia, announced June 26, 2026, caps a week that reframes who's buying in Latin America.

In a single week, Chile's Cencosud agreed to buy Brazil's St. Marche and all of Makro Colombia for US$158 million in cash — assets a Dutch seller is shedding as it exits the region. The deal is less a U.S.-versus-China contest than proof that regional strategics have become the natural buyer of choice as Chinese acquisition appetite fades.

Sources: McKinsey 2026 M&A Trends via Diario Financiero (M&A bars, excl. Mexico); RedALC-China Monitor 2026 via La Jornada (Chinese OFDI). These are different datasets and methodologies — grouped, not summed.

A regional champion with firepower

Cencosud paid cash for 100% of Makro Supermayorista Colombia — 21 wholesale stores across 16 cities — buying from SHV Holdings, the Dutch conglomerate methodically winding down its LatAm footprint after exits in Peru, Brazil and Argentina. Days earlier it agreed to take São Paulo's St. Marche (32 stores), and in early June a 51% stake in Bogotá's Plaza Central mall for ~US$125M.

The contrast with 2012 — when Cencosud borrowed US$2.5bn from JP Morgan to buy Carrefour Colombia — is the story. Today it recycles divestment proceeds (the US$123M Bretas sale funded Brazil expansion) and pays from its own balance sheet. Regional champions now have the capacity to absorb assets that multinationals are carving out.

The capital is rotating, not arriving

The macro frame favors disciplined operators. McKinsey data show intra-regional (LatAm-to-LatAm) M&A value jumped 65% to US$10bn in 2025 even as total regional M&A held flat at US$64.7bn and cross-regional value fell ~9% to US$50.6bn. Outbound deals nearly doubled to US$4bn. Regional buyers know the ground, clear competition reviews faster, and carry no geopolitical baggage.

Chinese capital, meanwhile, is retreating from dealmaking: OFDI to the region fell 12% to US$8.6bn, just 4.24% of regional FDI — near multi-year lows — and increasingly greenfield rather than acquisitions. Overall CEPAL inflows rose only 1.7% to US$194bn, below the decade GDP average, with new-project announcement value down 34%. Announced ambition is cooling; completed M&A by regional operators is not.

The signal: expect more European and multinational LatAm units carved out by regional consolidators, continued intra-regional deal growth, and Chinese money concentrated in greenfield infrastructure. For PE, regional strategics are now credible exit buyers — better optionality, but stiffer competition for assets.