Investors would have been scared away by changes in the distribution of LPG announced by the government and by Petrobras, such as the end of brand exclusivity

The deadline for receiving proposals from interested parties ended last Friday (16/08) and contrary to the interest of large business groups and investment funds, Petrobras received only two offers for Liquigás, its subsidiary for the distribution of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). In relation to piped gas, six companies will compete with Petrobras for the distribution of gas in the Center-South.

the suitors

The unofficial information is that only the Arab fund Mubadala and the consortium formed by Itaúsa and Copagaz would have submitted proposals for binding offers for the purchase of the distributor.
There was a lot of movement in the months leading up to the submission of proposals, with companies and investment funds trying to form consortia.

Some companies, however, withdrew from participating in Petrobras' competition, as was the case with the Dutch SHV Energy, owner of the distributor Supergasbras.

The company, giant in the sector and owner of 19,7% of the market, was negotiating the formation of a consortium with the manager GP Investments, but the creation of the company did not go ahead, as well as SHV which negotiated the creation of a consortium with distributor Consigaz, which has 8,6% of the market, but also withdrew.

It is speculated in the market that the reason for the withdrawals would have been the package of changes announced by the government in the LPG distribution market.
Changes such as the fractional sale of gas cylinders and the end of exclusivity in cylinder brands would have been the reason for the drop in interest from potential buyers, as they were not satisfactorily detailed by the government.

Liquigás is the second largest distributor of LPG in the country and the government estimated to raise around R$ 3 billion with the sale of the Petrobras subsidiary.
After negotiations with the two competitors, the winning proposal will be taken to the board of directors for a final decision.

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