(Petrobras, 28.Dec.2016) – These transactions are part of the company’s partnerships and divestments program. The target for the period 2017-2018 is $21 billion …
On December 28, 2016, Petrobras closed two asset sales for the total sum of $587 million. The subsidiary Petrobras Biocombustível (PBio) sold to Tereos Participations – a company in the French Tereos group – its entire stake in Guarani, representing 45.97% of the company’s equity capital, for $202 million. The Petrobras Board of Directors also approved the sale of Companhia Petroquímica de Pernambuco (PetroquímicaSuape) and Companhia Integrada Têxtil de Pernambuco (Citepe) to two subsidiaries of the Mexican company Alpek, for $385 million.
With these transactions, the Petrobras partnerships and divestments program has chalked up a total of $13.6 billion in the period 2015-2016, which is below the $15.1 billion target set for the two-year period. This failure to meet the target is explained by the company’s obligation to comply with the preliminary injunction of the Sergipe Court that blocked the completion of the negotiations for sale of the Tartaruga Verde and Baúna fields, located in the Campos Basin and the Santos Basin, respectively, which were already at an advanced stage. The target for the partnerships and divestments program in the period 2017-2018 will automatically be increased by the respective amounts, to the sum of $21 billion.
The assets sold do not have any Petrobras employees and the employment ties with the respective companies will not change as a result of the transactions.
The two agreements closed are among the five transactions that may see their contracts signed in accordance with a precautionary decision handed down by the Federal Audit Court (TCU).
All the transactions were conducted through a competitive process and the sale prices were appraised by several financial institutions, by means of independent opinions regarding the fair value (fairness opinion) and the valuation report.
More about the companies involved in the transactions:
Guarani
Guarani is one of the leading companies in the Brazilian sugar and ethanol market, ranked third among the largest sugar producers in Brazil. The company has eight industrial units: seven in Brazil, in the state of São Paulo (Andrade, Cruz Alta, São José, Severínia, Mandu, Tanabi and Vertente mills, the last in a joint venture with the Humus Group, which owns 50%) and one in Africa, in Mozambique (Sena mill).
Tereos
Tereos, which is a partner of PBio (Petrobras Biofuels) in Guarani, with a 54.03% equity stake, is the world’s third largest sugar producer. The group specializes in transforming raw materials into sugar, ethanol, alcohol and starch and has 24,000 employees at 42 industrial units across Europe, South America, the Indian Ocean, Africa and Asia.
PetroqímicaSuape and Citepe
PetroquímicaSuape and Citepe are fully-owned subsidiaries of Petrobras and form part of the company’s Chemical-Textile Industrial Complex in Ipojuca, in the state of Pernambuco. These companies bring together three integrated industrial units: PTA (purified terephthalic acid), polyester fibers and PET (polyethylene terephthalate) resin.
Alpek
Alpek is a listed Mexican company, owned by Alfa, S.A.B. de C.V., which operates in the petrochemical segment and is a world leader in the production of polyester (PTA, PET and fibers).
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