Iberdrola in Talks to Grow Neoenergia Stake

Spanish utility Iberdrola is seeking to increase its stake in Brazilian utility Neoenergia. The company is pondering raising its participation from the 39% stake it currently owns and is in talks for that purpose with its partners Previ, the pension fund for Banco do Brasil employees, and Banco do Brasil itself, the largest financial institution in Latin America, an Iberdrola spokesman says. The talks started last year, the spokesman adds, but he declines to confirm any published details on the ongoing deal. Neoenergia officials could not immediately be reached for comment. Several reports have suggested lately that Iberdrola is seeking as much as a 75% stake in Neoenergia. Iberdrola has been active in Brazil over the past year. A year ago, the company paid $2.4bn for Brazilian power distributor Elektro as part of a package including several of AEI’s assets in LatAm.