Brazil’s Petrobras nears sale involving chemicals producer Braskem
1/25/2016 12:00:00 AM
Brazil's state-led oil company Petrobras is close to selling its stake in Brazilian petrochemicals producer Braskem and expects to complete the sale by the end of June, a Petrobras source told news agency Reuters.
Petrobras has received interest from major international chemical companies for its 36% stake in Braskem's total capital, according to the Reuters report.
Petrobras owns 47% of Braskem's common shares and 21.8% of its non-voting preferred stock. Those shares were worth 3.65 billion reais ($892 million) at Friday's close in Sao Paulo.
Citing a source, Reuters reported that it is unlikely that Braskem's controlling shareholder, Brazil's Odebrecht Group, will have the interest or financial strength to buy the stake.
Odebrecht is in the midst of a giant price-fixing, bribery and political kickback investigation related to Petrobras construction projects.
Petrobras officials earlier said they plan to speed up a long-stalled program to sell $15.1 billion of assets by the end of 2016.
The recent signing of a long-term naphtha supply contract for Braskem has helped the company's stock recover from recent declines. In turn, that could make a potential sale more attractive for Petrobras, Reuters reported.
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