Tug and barge owner Hidrovias do Brasil will ask shareholders to approve a share sale to allow it to invest in growth.
The Sao Paulo-listed company wants to raise up to BRL 1.5bn ($267m) in a private placement.
It aims to “access new investments, driving its growth agenda and generating value for shareholders, with a focus on investments in additional capacity in the North Corridor, strengthening the company’s position in the region” and contributing to making Brazil’s logistics network more efficient, chief financial officer Andre Saleme Hachem said in a securities filing.
Key to the effort is the long-sought North Corridor plan, which would increase Hidrovias’ capacity in the northern state of Para.
“This is not a new plan. It’s an old project for the company since the [2020] IPO, but it was never able to execute because of its leverage,” a source close to the company told Brazil Journal.
“It will be a major capacity increase, which will be very important for the company’s future.”
The company will hold an extraordinary general meeting on 1 October to vote on the plan, as well as proposing bylaw changes.
The amendments would include changing public offering requirements for its shares, to facilitate better capital markets access.
And it wants to alter takeover protections so that if one shareholder seeks a merger, spin-off or other transaction, it requires a majority of the remaining investors to approve it.
That language replaces a poison pill in its bylaws, which would be triggered if it reached a stake of more than 20%.
Despite the provision, it has not stopped Brazilian energy & logistics conglomerate Ultra Group from achieving a 40% stake.
The Sao Paulo company’s largest shareholder reached that stake by securing waivers from other investors as it piled up shares starting in June, according to the Brazil Journal.
The share sale will be held at a price of BRL 3.40, just below Friday’s closing price of BRL 3.49 on the Bovespa stock exchange.
