Brazil: Iberdrola-driven merger creates Latin America’s largest energy company

Spanish energy giant Iberdrola has succeeded in its bid to merge two companies in which it had significant participation, Elektro and Neoenergía, whose merger has resulted in the largest electricity company in Brazil, and the largest in Latin America in terms of number of customers, with 13.4 million. The merged outfit will provide service covering a population of over 43 million people, compared to the 18 million people served by Iberdrola in it’s home country.

The president of Iberdrola, Ignacio Sánchez Galán, stressed that this agreement creates the largest electric utility in Brazil and Latin America, which reinforces the company’s commitment to “contribute to Brazilian energy development.” The integration of these two subsidiaries was a scenario that Iberdrola had explored since the acquisition of Elektro, back in 2011.

The transaction must be approved by the general shareholders’ meetings of Neoenergia and Elektro and is pending, as is common for these operations, the approval from Brazilian competition regulator CADE and energy regulator ANEEL.

Full Content: Libre Mercado

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