By Brazil Stock Guide – Empresa Metropolitana de Águas e Energia (EMAE) said in a market filing released on Saturday that Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo (Sabesp) is moving toward a mandatory tender offer for the remaining common shares of the company after completing a transaction that transferred control to the utility. The filing formally confirms the change of control and signals an impending reshaping of EMAE’s governance.
According to the disclosure, Sabesp now holds 11,009,550 common shares and 29,950 preferred shares of EMAE, representing approximately 74.9% of the company’s voting capital and about 29.8% of its total share capital. The control shift followed the closing of a transaction involving Vórtx Distribuidora de Títulos e Valores Mobiliários, which resulted in Sabesp acquiring the controlling stake.
EMAE said Sabesp will submit a request to Brazil’s securities regulator, the Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM), to register a mandatory tender offer triggered by the sale of control, as required under local rules. The filing also states that, as the new controlling shareholder, Sabesp plans to introduce changes to EMAE’s management and administrative structure in due course.
EMAE owns strategic power-generation and water-management assets in São Paulo state. Sabesp’s takeover, confirmed in the Saturday filing, underscores the broader reshuffling of state-linked infrastructure assets following the utility’s recent privatization, with potential implications for governance, investment strategy and capital allocation over the medium term.
EMAE was privatized under Governor Tarcísio de Freitas and sold to the Phoenix fund, controlled by businessman Nelson Tanure. After the purchaser failed to complete payment, guarantees were enforced and the asset was subsequently sold to Sabesp. During the process, Tanure had assets frozen by court order in connection with the Banco Master case. Sabesp itself was also privatized under Tarcísio, placing the transaction within a broader restructuring of São Paulo’s state-owned infrastructure assets.
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