By Brazil Stock Guide – Neoenergia SA (NEOE3) said its board of directors supports a share purchase offer aimed at acquiring the company’s remaining free-float shares and delisting the Brazilian power utility from B3’s Novo Mercado segment.
The transaction would cancel the company’s category A public listing and convert it to category B, ending trading of Neoenergia shares on Brazil’s main corporate governance segment.
The utility’s controlling shareholder currently holds about 80.3% of Neoenergia’s capital, while the group’s parent company owns roughly 3.5% of the shares. That leaves just over 16.2% of the stock in public circulation, which would be targeted in the buyout proposal.
According to the company, the board considers the offer favorable for minority shareholders and has recommended acceptance of the proposal as part of the process required to complete the delisting.
The controlling shareholder said the move is intended to streamline the company’s corporate structure and improve financial and operational flexibility.
“Simplify the corporate and organizational structure of Neoenergia, providing greater flexibility in the financial and operational management of its activities,” the group said in describing the rationale for the transaction.
The company also pointed to the costs associated with maintaining a category A public company registration with Brazil’s securities regulator, the Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM), as well as expenses linked to listing shares on B3 SA Brasil Bolsa Balcão (B3SA3).
The proposed buyout follows a recent expansion of the controlling shareholder’s stake in the Brazilian utility. In October last year, the group acquired the 30.3% stake held by Banco do Brasil employees’ pension fund Previ in a deal valued at about 12 billion reais ($2.4 billion).
If the purchase of the remaining publicly traded shares is completed, the controlling shareholder would consolidate full ownership of Neoenergia and proceed with a corporate restructuring of its Brazilian operations.
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