The Bahia Government Opposes the Sale of Gaspetro Announced by Petrobras Last Week

This Manifestation of the Bahia Government Against Petrobras is About the Company BahiaGás, in Which Gaspetro Held 24.5% of the Shares

As announced by Petrobras last week, Gaspetro will be sold to Compass for R$ 2.03 billion. The state-owned company holds 51% of Gaspetro, which has stakes in 19 gas distributors, including 24.5% of the shares of BahiaGás. In addition to Gaspetro, the Bahia government has 51% of the shares of BahiaGás. According to the newspaper Tribuna da Bahia, with the negotiation, BahiaGás will have as a partner holding 24.5% of the shares in the company of the Cosan group, through Compass, if the deal goes through. The news was not well received by the government. See also: Petrobras Signs Contract for Sale of Electric Energy Companies in the North and Northeast

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Dissatisfaction Over the Sale of Gaspetro

The Secretary of Infrastructure and President of the Board of Directors of BahiaGás, Marcus Cavalcanti, stated that the company will not accept Petrobras’ sale and will exercise its right of first refusal. In Cavalcanti’s view, the value of the negotiation does not correspond to the worth of the structure being sold. Therefore, he asserted that BahiaGás is worth more, and that the state government will exercise its right of first refusal to purchase the shares, the publication states.

“The Bahia government was notified on the afternoon of this Thursday (29), by electronic correspondence, of the value of Gaspetro’s participation in Bahiagás, which is being sold in Petrobras’ process. By our preliminary assessment, the value is extremely low and, in order to defend the interest of Bahia’s assets, the state of Bahia will exercise the right of first refusal for the portion of shares being sold by Petrobras,” said the Secretary of Infrastructure.

The expectation is that other gas companies in the Northeastern states will also position themselves against the proposed values in the sale of Gaspetro by Petrobras.

Also Check: Petrobras Signs Contract for Sale of Gaspetro Stake to Compass for R$ 2.03 Billion

Petrobras issued a statement on 07/28, continuing what was announced on 07/10/2020 and 12/30/2020, indicating that it has signed a contract with Compass Gás e Energia for the sale of its entire stake (51%) in Gaspetro. The sale amount is R$ 2.03 billion, and will be paid at closing, subject to adjustments provided for in the contract.

The investment amount from Compass for the purchase of Petrobras’ asset is R$ 2.03 billion, to be paid at the closing of the transaction, which is subject to the fulfillment of suspensive conditions such as the observation of the period for exercising the right of first refusal by other Gaspetro shareholders and their subsidiaries, and approval by the competent bodies. Japanese company Mitsui holds the remaining stake of Gaspetro, which is 49%.

In the announcement, Petrobras emphasizes that this disclosure to the market is in accordance with internal regulations of the state-owned company and with the special regime for divesting assets by federal mixed-economy companies, as provided in Decree 9.188/2017. This operation aligns with the Commitment Agreement to Cease (TCC) signed with CADE in July 2019 to promote competition in the natural gas sector in Brazil, as well as the strategy for portfolio optimization and the improved allocation of Petrobras’ capital, aiming at value generation.