BNDES to sell more Petrobras, Vale shares
Brazilian development bank BNDES will sell more of its shares in state oil firm Petrobras and mining company Vale to focus on its core business.
Privatization director Leonardo Mendes Cabral said: "Our plan to reduce our equity interest in companies will be in place until the end of 2022, so we have time to decide the best moment for that."
Earlier this month, BNDES raised BRL8.1 billion with the sale of 135 million Vale shares, reducing its stake in the mining firm to 3.7% from 6.3%. And BNDES is holding an 8.08% stake in Petrobras, having sold part of its shares for BRL22 billion in February. The bank will also divest other major firms, such as beef producer JBS and pulp producer Suzano.
BNDES posted a net loss of BRL583 million ($186 million), partially due to falling share values in the portfolio of BNDESPar, the bank’s equity arm.
The bank wants to reduce its exposure to financial volatility and wants to focus on infrastructure financing and support for small and medium-sized enterprises hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
