$1 billion Brazilian gas privatization

A consortium including British Gas and Shell has bought a $1 billion controlling stake (53%) in Gas de Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest natural gas distributor*. This was the Brazilian government’s first privatization since the devaluation of the real in January. Gas de Sao Paulo serves around 300,000 mainly industrial customers in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s most populous state. The consortium’s bid was chosen in preference to several rival consortia, including one led by Enron and Agip of Italy.