Business

Brazilian state seeks to privatize Copel

Brazilian state seeks to privatize Copel

Brazil’s Paraná state intends to privatize its power company Companhia Paranaense de Energia (Copel), the local government said, with an end goal to raise financial resources and add value to the government’s shares in the company.

Copel has over 6.6 GW of installed power capacity, 9,616 km of transmission lines and 4.9 million clients connected to its distribution grid. Copel owns 46 power plants: 20 hydroelectric, one thermal and 25 wind farms. And Copel has interests in 11 other generation projects.

According to BNamericas, the aim is to launch a secondary public offering of common shares and/or depositary receipts issued by the company. According to Paraná’s government, the operation intends to raise financial resources to meet the investment needs of the state, as well as adding value to its remaining shares in Copel.

Paraná state will retain no less than 15% of Copel’s total share capital and 10% of the total voting shares, according to a disclosure.

The privatization process is subject to the approval of Paraná’s legislative chamber and audit court TCE-PR.

Copel said it will also evaluate the proposed model and the specific procedures for its implementation, including the eventual convening of a general meeting to deliberate on the matter.

In the first half of the year, Copel sold 12.156 GWh of power. In the third quarter, the company posted a 378 million-real (about US$73 million) net profit, compared to earnings of 1.75bn reais a year earlier.