The government of São Paulo has successfully raised $2.7 billion through the sale of shares in the privatization of the water and sanitation company Sabesp, according to sources close to the transaction reported by LatinFinance.
In the second phase of the transaction, which concluded on Thursday, financial investors acquired 17% of Sabesp for BRL7.9 billion ($1.4 billion). This follows an earlier sale where São Paulo sold a 15% stake to the Brazilian utility Equatorial for BRL6.9 billion. The bookbuilding process saw significant interest, with total demand for shares reaching BRL187 billion, including BRL96.5 billion from foreign investors.
"Sabesp’s public offering ranks as the third largest globally, following transactions by Spanish cosmetics firm Puig and Saudi Arabian oil giant Aramco," the source noted. Official confirmation of the results is expected on Friday.
In the Equatorial deal, which established the company as Sabesp’s reference shareholder, the offer price was set at BRL67 per share. This was notably lower than the BRL82 closing price on São Paulo’s B3 stock exchange on Thursday.
