Brazil's Petrobras agreed to sell 90% of its natural gas pipeline unit for $5.2 billion to a group of investors led by Canada's Brookfield Asset Management Inc., the companies said on Sept. 23.
The Brookfield-led group agreed to pay $4.34 billion upon closing the deal and the remaining $850 million in five years, they said. The consortium includes sovereign wealth funds CIC Capital Corp. of China and GIC Private Ltd. of Singapore.
Reuters had reported on Sept. 6 details of the accord that the investor group struck with Petrobras.
The deal, which is still subject to approval by shareholders and Brazilian regulators, is the largest yet in a plan by the oil company to sell $15.1 billion of assets in 2015 and 2016 and raise another $19.5 billion through divestments and partnerships between 2017 and 2018.
Under the accord, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Ltd. will invest at least 20% of value of the deal, while Brookfield Asset Management has an initial investment of about 30%.
The Petrobras pipeline unit, Nova Transportadora do Sudeste SA, transports natural gas from Bolivia and Brazil's offshore oil and gas fields to south-central Brazil, supplying Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais.
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