Ian Ritter is national online editor for GlobeSt.com/RETAIL.

PLANO, TX-J.C. Penney has sold Lojas Renner, its 62-store department store chain in Brazil, through a public stock offering in that country. Penney executives say that they expect net proceeds to total $260 million from the transaction.

Renner stores design and sell men's, women's and children's apparel under 11 private brands. A majority of its stores are mall-based, though a handful of its units are stand-alones.

The retailer was formed in 1912 in Rio Grande do Sul as a branch of a textile company operated by the Renner family. J.C. Penney acquired the chain, which operated 21 stores at the time, in 1998 under the subsidiary J.C. Penney Brazil. Most of Renner's stores are in Southern Brazil, and executives are planning an expansion in the Northern half of the country.