By Jeffrey T. Lewis

SAO PAULO--Brazilian investment holding company Itausa SA said Tuesday it sold a 1.2% stake in online brokerage XP Inc. as part of its plan to divest non-strategic assets.

Itausa, which also owns stakes in lender Itau Unibanco SA, Brazil's biggest bank by assets, and Alpargatas SA, the maker of the Havaianas brand of flip-flops, among others, said it sold 6.5 million of XP's class A shares for about 660 million reais, the equivalent of $128.6 million.

The sale reduced Itausa's stake in XP to 51 million shares, or about 9.2% of the financial services company. The shares represent 3.3% of XP's voting capital, Itausa said. The sale will strengthen Itausa's balance sheet and increase its liquidity, the holding company said.

Itausa's quarterly earnings are strongly affected by the performance of Itau Unibanco, by far the holding company's most important investment, and sometimes by the purchase or divestment of other assets. The sale of the XP stake will contribute about BRL300 million to fourth-quarter results, Itausa said.

Write to Jeffrey T. Lewis at jeffrey.lewis@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-04-22 0932ET