Maquina de Vendas, the Brazilian home appliance retailer created through a merger last year, could list its shares as early as the end of this year as it expands into insurance and consumer finance, newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo said on Monday. Maquina, the by-product of a merger between retailers Insinuante and Ricardo Eletro, could sell stock to fund acquisitions and bolster its nascent insurance and finance units, Luiz Carlos Batista, one of the company's two founding partners, told Estado. Maquina, Brazil's second-largest home appliance retailer after Globex, would expand into insurance to sell clients policies on the goods it sells, such as consumer electronics, the newspaper said. Globex is a unit of Grupo Pao de Acucar (PCAR5.SA), the country's biggest diversified retail chain.
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