SAO PAULO, Brazil-The Brazilian government plans to sell its 21-percent stake in telecommunications giant Telebras July 15 on the Rio de Janeiro stock exchange.
Telebras is scheduled to split into 12 regional holding companies prior to the sale. Closed bids for each company will be opened July 15, and the top two bidders will proceed to a live auction if the difference between their offers is less than 10 percent, said a Brazilian newspaper.
However, the sell-off could be postponed as Brazil’s TRF tribunal confirmed a preliminary court ruling preventing the split of Telebras. The court said the proposed split violated Article 37 of Brazil’s constitution, which requires a specific law to be passed for the creation of new companies.
In related news, a Sao Paulo newspaper reported that Brazil’s President Fernando Henrique Cardoso appointed Luis Carlos Mendonca de Barros communications minister, replacing Sergio Motta, who died earlier this month. Mendonca de Barros will resign from his current position as president of Brazil’s development bank BNDES.
