TN PETRÓLEO
HOME - ABOUT US - NEWSLETTER - CONTACT US - LINKS
Source: Bnamericas
Date: 05/30/2007 00:00
Brazilian petrochemical group Unipar has acquired 3.5mn ordinary shares in Petroquímica União (PQU), which represent 7% of the latter`s voting stock and 3.5% of the total, the former said in a statement.
The shares were bought for 35.5mn reais (US$18.3mn) on May 25 from SEP Empreendimentos Produtivos, a private company whose shareholders are former employees of PQU that do not belong to PQU`s controlling interests, according to newspaper Valor Econômico.
This could be the first step towards the consolidation of the petrochemical industry in the region, an analyst at brokerage Ágora Corretora, Luiz Otávio Broad, told BNamericas.
"The consolidation of the sector is a trend and this purchase demonstrates that," he said.
PQU is currently controlled by Unipar, Dow Brasil, federal energy firm Petrobras (NYSE: PBR), Suzano Petroquímica and others, according to information on the company`s website.
Unipar is the major shareholder with 37.2% of the total, followed by Petrobras with 17.4%. With SEP`s shares, Unipar will now have 40.7% of PQU, according to Valor Econômico.
UNIPAR LOOKING AT OTHER DEALS
Unipar has been working on other deals, apart from buying the extra stake in PQU, according to the group`s president Roberto Dias Garcia, although he did not want to speak about the rumored acquisition of Suzano Petroquímica, the newspaper reported.
"A merger of Unipar and Suzano makes sense, but it is complicated as the two groups want to remain in control," said Ágora`s Broad.
As a major shareholder in PQU and controlling 33% of gas-chemical firm Riopol, Unipar`s goal is to build a strong and competitive petrochemical company in the region, according to Garcia.
However, this consolidation will happen in stages, as the ownership structures of the companies in the region are complex, Garcia said.
For instance, Unipar shares control of Riopol with Suzano Petroquímica, which also owns 33.3% of the company, besides owning stakes in various other companies in the region. Meanwhile, Suzano holds 6.8% of PQU, according to the daily.
"It doesn`t make senses for the [petchem] blocs in Rio [de Janeiro] and São Paulo to be separate," the executive was quoted as saying by Valor Econômico.

