Brazil's Sabesp taps banks to handle privatization offering

Companhia de Saneamento Basico do Estado de Sao Paulo - SABESP

22/12/2023 10:47

SAO PAULO, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Brazilian water and
sanitation utility Sabesp  SBSP3.SA  has selected four
investment banks to manage a follow-on share offering that would
ultimately privatize the company, it said in a securities filing
late on Thursday.
    Sabesp, which is controlled by the state of Sao Paulo, said
it had picked BTG Pactual  BPAC3.SA , Bank of America, Citi and
UBS BB to structure the transaction, which the government
expects to be completed by mid-2024.
    Sao Paulo, Brazil's most populous and wealthiest state, owns
50.3% of the company and would still hold onto a
to-be-determined minority stake following the deal.
    Lawmakers in the state earlier this month passed a bill
authorizing the privatization, which if concluded would be a
major victory for Governor Tarcisio de Freitas.
    Sabesp has a market capitalization of 50.74 billion reais
($10.39 billion), according to LSEG Workspace data.

($1 = 4.8844 reais)

 (Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Steven Grattan and
Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
 ((Gabriel.Araujo2@thomsonreuters.com; +55 11 5047-3352;))