Government expands share of Petrobrás

This week’s megacapitalization of Brazil’s state-run oil company, Petrobrás, has resulted in an expansion of the government’s stake: Brasilia’s ownership of voting capital rose from 57.5% to 64% and the amount of social capital (“capital social”) controlled by the government went from 39.8% to 48%. The latter consists of ordinary shares and preferential shares (non-voting) and is distributed as follows: 33.3% belongs to the government and 11.8% belongs to the Brazilian Development Bank (“BNDES”). The rest is now distributed as follows: 3% is owned by Brazil’s sovereignty fund (“Fundo Soberano”); the Banco do Brasil pension fund (“Previ”) owns 2.9%; the Petrobras pension fund (“Petros”) owns 0.8% and the remaining 48.3% was sold on the open market.