Brazil's Petrobas to sale $1.3 bn of African venture stake

The Brazilian state-owned oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA is poised to accept the sale of its stake in its African subsidiary for about 1.3 billion dollars.

According to local paper newspaper Valor Econômico, Petrobras owns 50% of Petrobras Oil & Gas BV, or Petrobras Africa.

Brazilian financial company, BTG Pactual SA holds a 40% stake in the company and Helios Investment Partners holds the remaining 10%.

And according to an anonymous source, the three shareholders would sell their share for about 2.6 billion dollars.

Reuters reported on June 18 that a consortium led by Vitol SA had begun exclusive negotiations to acquire stakes in Petrobras Africa, and emerging as a winner from a number of bidders, including its competitor Glencore.

Petrobras Africa participates in two deepwater oil exploration blocks in Nigeria.

The heavily indebted company announced its intention to sell this stake in November as part of a disinvestment program aimed at unlocking $21 billion in assets by the end of the year.