BNDES gives up selling Eletrobras shares in 2022, says agency

The BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development) will not sell Eletrobras shares that are in its portfolio this year, two sources close to the matter told Reuters. They cited a lack of time to carry out the operation in 2022 and a worsening macroeconomic scenario.

A lock-up clause for the sale of shares —imposed after the privatization of Eletrobras— expired at the beginning of the month, which generated expectations that the BNDES could sell part of its shares in the largest electricity company in Latin America.

The bank even made internal assessments on the subject, but the idea was aborted, according to sources, due to lack of time. Sought, the bank did not immediately comment on the matter.

At the beginning of the month, the BNDES had evaluated the possibility of selling approximately R$ 7 billion in Eletrobras shares, informed the Valor Econômico newspaper at the time.

The bank holds in its portfolio shares equivalent to around 8% of the electricity company’s capital, considering a slice held by the institution’s shareholding arm (BNDESPar).

The script for the sale of shares would include evaluation by the technical staff, management and council, which comes up against the period for meetings of these groups, which normally have fixed dates for meetings.

BNDES stake sales, which involved shares in Eletrobras itself, Vale, JBS and Marfrig, among others, helped boost the institution’s profits during the government of Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

According to data from the bank, between January 2019 and September of this year, divestments totaled BRL 88.5 billion.

With the change in the Presidency of the Republic in 2023, it is likely that the bank will stop disposing of shares. In previous PT administrations, the development bank’s portfolio grew.

The worsening of the economic scenario, according to one of the sources, also made it impossible to carry out the sale of Eletrobras shares.

The bank coordinated the Eletrobras capitalization process, which moved more than R$ 30 billion in the middle of the year.

In this “follow-on” operation of the electric company, a “lock-up” of 180 days was determined for selling shareholders with a position greater than 5%.