Equatorial Clinches Celpa Buy

Brazil’s Equatorial Energia has agreed to purchase control of power distributor Centrais Eletricas do Para (Celpa), it says. Equatorial will pay a nominal price of BRL1.00 for 39.1m shares, or 61.37% of the indebted unit of Grupo Rede. The agreement puts an end to the saga that started with Celpa filing for bankruptcy protection in February, citing deterioration in its finances. The distributor had also presented a restructuring plan to creditors. Equatorial is controlled by private-equity fund Vinci Partners Investimentos, which is expected to merge Celpa with its Companhia Energetica do Maranhao (Cemar).