Brookfield team to buy Petrobras gas pipeline unit

“Petrobras […] informs that it has concluded the negotiations with the consortium led by Brookfield for the sale of this asset. Once the steps provided for under Petrobras’ divestment process are completed, the final terms and conditions of the transaction will be submitted for deliberation by the company’s statutory bodies and, if approved, will be timely disclosed to the market,” Petrobras wrote in a regulatory filing.

A spokeswoman for Brookfield declined to comment on the transaction.

 
The Brookfield-led consortium, which is also thought to include China Investment Corporation and Singaporean wealth fund GIC, had been in exclusive talks with the heavily indebted state-run energy giant for the sale of Nova Transportadora do Sudeste, as the pipeline unit is known. 

 

Sources had previously told Infrastructure Investor the deal would be worth over $5 billion. It will be funded from Brookfield’s recently closed $14 billion third infrastructure fund, the largest ever raised.

Over 120 institutional investors backed Brookfield Infrastructure III, with Brookfield contributing $4 billion from its listed infrastructure and renewables funds. The vehicle was originally targeting $10 billion and will invest in the transportation, energy and renewables sectors in OECD countries. It will target investments ranging from $400 million to $1 billion in size and will have a four-year investment period and a 12-year term, subject to two one-year extension options. 

BIF III has committed to invest over $3 billion in assets including a portfolio of US hydroelectric facilities, a portfolio of Brazilian electricity transmission projects, a Colombian power generation company and a US water infrastructure project developer. In addition to NTS, BIF III is said to be in talks to acquire a 70 percent stake in Odebrecht Ambiental, the water and sewage unit of engineering conglomerate Grupo Odebrecht.