Approved deals by J&F unit include the company’s Eletronuclear investment and power plants in Acre.
Âmbar, the energy arm of the J&F group, received two green lights on Monday (1) from the General Superintendence of Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defense (SG/CADE) to expand its operations. In the more significant of the two cases, the technical unit approved, without restrictions, J&F’s acquisition of Axia Energia’s (formerly Eletrobras) stake in Eletronuclear. The technical unit also cleared without restrictions J&F’s purchase of the Cruzeiro do Sul D, Feijó D, and Tarauacá D thermoelectric plants owned by Energias do Acre.
If no challenges are filed by competitors or CADE commissioners within the next 15 days, the operations will be considered definitively approved by the antitrust authority. Both deals still require authorization from the National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL).
In the Eletronuclear case, as reported to the CADE, the Batista family’s company will not gain control of the nuclear-energy producer, which will remain under federal control. The CADE found that the transaction “is not capable of causing harm to the competitive environment,” justifying its unrestricted approval.
The deal marks Âmbar’s debut in nuclear power generation and expands its presence in Brazil’s electricity system. The transaction is valued at R$535 million and includes the assumption of R$2.4 billion in debentures and financial guarantees held by the state-owned company related to a settlement agreement signed between the former Eletrobras and the federal government in a case before the Supreme Court.
The companies informed the antitrust authority that the operation represents “a good opportunity” for J&F to expand its activities in the electricity sector by entering the nuclear-energy market. For Axia, the sale would help optimize its portfolio and capital allocation, focusing on value creation and simplifying its structure under its Strategic Plan, according to documents submitted to the agency.
Eletronuclear was created in 1997 to build and operate nuclear power plants in Brazil. It currently operates the Angra 1 (640 MW) and Angra 2 (1,350 MW) nuclear plants and plans to complete construction of the Angra 3 plant (1,405 MW). Together, the three facilities total roughly 3,400 megawatts (MW), enough to supply more than 10 million people.
Since 2022, Eletronuclear has been a mixed-capital company controlled by ENBPar (Brazilian Company for Nuclear and Binational Energy Holdings), linked to the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), with Axia Energia as one of its shareholders.
The federal government will retain control of the company, holding 64.7% of voting capital and 32% of total capital. Âmbar will hold 68% of total capital and 35.3% of voting capital in Eletronuclear.
Regarding the thermoelectric plants owned by Energias do Acre, the acquisition allows the Batista brothers’ company to enter the State of Acre and expand its presence to 11 Brazilian states. The facilities total 69.4 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity and supply electricity to around 30,000 consumer units, about 20% of the state’s consumption.
These units operate on fuel oil and play an essential role in supplying electricity to the region, which was recently connected to the National Interconnected System (SIN). The transaction price was not disclosed.
Âmbar currently operates in the electricity generation and trading markets, with more than 4.1 GW of installed capacity. Often, its growth in the sector has involved acquiring distressed assets that later became profitable. Today, it operates more than 50 power plants. Both transactions were announced in October.
The CADE approved the deals under the “summary procedure,” used for merger reviews considered less complex. The companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Source: Valor International
