CADE Approves sale of Gaspetro’s control to Compass

The General Superintendence of the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) approved the sale of control of Gaspetro, currently with Petrobras, to Compass (Cosan group).

“In summary, it is understood that the post-operation scenario is better for the competitive environment than the pre-operation scenario, given that –even if it transfers Gaspetro to a single economic agent– the sale removes the participation of the incumbent agent (Petrobras )”, said the opinion of the antitrust agency.

Previously the National Petroleum Agency (ANP) recommended the disapproval of the sale, claiming that Compass “has not demonstrated its independence from the agents that make up the other links in the natural gas chain”.

Petrobras announced the sale of 51% of Gaspetro to Compass in July last year. Gaspetro is a holding company with equity interests in 18 natural gas distribution companies, located in all regions of Brazil. Its distribution networks total approximately 10,000 km, serving more than 500,000 customers, with a distributed volume of around 29 million cubic meters per day. Japan’s Mitsui owns the remaining 49% in the business.