EDP Brasil kicks off bid for USD-60m stake in utility CELESC

The Brazilian unit of Portuguese utility EDP (ELI:EDP) announced on Tuesday a voluntary public tender offer for up to 32% of the preferred shares of sector player Centrais Eletricas de Santa Catarina SA (BVMF:CLSC3), better known as CELESC.

EDP – Energias do Brasil SA (BVMF:ENBR3) seeks to buy the shares at BRL 27 apiece, or for a total amount of BRL 199 million (USD 60m/EUR 48m). The targeted preference shares represent 19.1% of the total shares of CELESC, which means that, overall, EDP Brasil will own 33.6% of the utility if the bid reaches its total potential, having made another purchase recently.

Earlier this year, EDP Brasil acquired a 14.5% interest in CELESC for a final price of BRL 244 million. That stake includes 33.1% of the voting capital and 1.9% of the preferred shares in the firm.

CELESC owns, through Celesc Geracao SA, 12 small hydropower plants (HPPs) and has four additional facilities with private partners, together representing an installed capacity of 126 MW, according to information on its website. The company also has a separate distribution business that serves over 2.8 million customers.

The stake buy in CELESC will reinforce EDP Brasil’s focus on regulated networks and this does not only concern the distribution segment, but also the transmission segment, the company said in a statement.

(BRL 1.0 = USD 0.300/EUR 0.243)

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