Brazil's Paraná state wants to privatize local power firm

Brazil’s Paraná state intends to privatize its power company Copel, the local government said on Monday. 

The goal 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 aims 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.

OVERVIEW 

The company has over 6.6GW of installed power capacity, 9,616km of transmission lines and 4.9mn clients connected to its distribution grid. 

In the first half of the year, Copel sold 12.156GWh of power. 

In the third quarter, the company posted a 378mn-real (about US$73mn) net profit, compared to earnings of 1.75bn reais a year earlier.