The sale of Braskem became competitive again. U.S.-based asset management company Apollo Capital made a non-binding offer of R$44.57 per share for the stake that is in the hands of Novonor (ex-Odebrecht), Valor has learned. Three sources familiar with the matter confirmed the interest of Apollo, which in the past had a relevant stake in the petrochemical company Lyondellbasell.

At the price offered by Apollo, the Odebrecht holding company would raise R$13.6 billion with the sale of 38.8% of the total capital of the petrochemical company. The amount is higher than the price of the company’s PNA share at Wednesday’s closing on the B3, of R$43.36.

Apollo has resumed talks and is interested in Braskem’s assets, a source familiar with the matter said. In Brazil, Starboard is a partner of Apollo. Although it has submitted the best offer in terms of price for Braskem, the fund is not alone in the competition for the Brazilian petrochemical company.

According to market sources, rival Unipar is still evaluating the assets, and holding J&F Investimentos, owned by the Batista family, is also in the race. J&F is being advised by CF Partners, of former Braskem CEO Carlos Fadigas, in the search for investment opportunities in energy and petrochemicals, a person familiar with the matter said. However, the holding company has not yet made a bid to Novonor.

BTG Pactual is also committed to the proposed purchase of Novonor’s debts with creditor banks, which total almost R$15 billion, as Valor reported in March. With the transaction, BTG would take over the petrochemical company shares that guarantee these debts. The talks are still at an early stage and would have to be approved by the creditors.

The buyer of Novonor shares will have to extend the offer to Petrobras, Braskem’s second largest shareholder, with 47% of the common stock and 36.1% of the total. The state-owned company has a tag-along right, which allows it to sell the shares it holds under the same conditions offered to Novonor, according to the company’s shareholders’ agreement.

For a market source, the R$44.57 per share that would have been put on the table may not convince Novonor, which together with Petrobras gave up selling part of its position in a secondary offering in January, because the price investors were willing to pay, around R$40 per share, was considered low. With the capital market stuck due to the adverse external scenario and volatility because of the elections in Brazil, there is no expectation that the secondary offering will take place in the first half of the year.

The petrochemical company’s strategy is to spin off its green plastics division to unlock market capitalization. To do so, it is seeking investors for this business.

The sale of Braskem’s assets has become a complex negotiation, full of comings and goings. Last year, Braskem was approached to sell the assets in sliced form, but the negotiations fell apart. Lyondellbasell even made an offer for the company, but dropped out of the deal.

Novonor, CF Partners, J&F and Unipar declined to comment. Apollo did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Source: Valor International

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