UPDATE 1-Brazil's Guedes says audit court to vote next week on Electrobras privatization
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By Marcela Ayres and Leticia Fucuchima
BRASILIA, April 13 (Reuters) - Brazil's Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said on Wednesday that the federal audit court TCU will vote on the Eletrobras' privatization next week, adding the schedule is tight for the planned share offering.
Speaking at an official event, Guedes said that if the timing is lost, the country's people will face "an obscure future" as presidential elections approach.
The state-run company has exactly one month to conclude the privatization process via capital increase, taking advantage of the market window seen as ideal by the government and investors. However, the several stages it needs to overcome cast more doubt on the success of the operation.
The biggest obstacle is the second and final approval from the audit court. The process has already gone through all the necessary internal rites and is set to be voted on April 20.
Besides that, Eletrobras needs to approve the 2021 financial results at a meeting scheduled for April 22, publish the 20-F form at SEC on April 25, and only then the company can release the offer prospectus.
If the offer time frame fails, the government may try to carry out the operation in the second half of the year, starting in August. However, there's a risk of the market window worsening or even close, given the proximity of the electoral race and other uncertainties, such as the unfolding of the war in Ukraine. (Reporting by Marcela Ayres and Leticia Fucuchima; editing by Jonathan Oatis and David Gregorio)
