Sep 30, 2020

 BRK Ambiental Participações S.A. was the winner of the auction organized by the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) for the regionalized concession of water supply and sewage services in the Metropolitan Region of Maceió (state of Alagoas). The winning group’s offer was R$ 2.009 billion, which represented a surplus of 13,180% in relation to the minimum amount stipulated for the service grant (R$ 15.125 million).  In all, seven consortiums made proposals at the event, which took place today at the B3 Stock Exchange.

For BNDES president Gustavo Montezano, the auction was “a victory of the people of Alagoas.” “I want to welcome the private initiative of Brazil, which believes in the country, which has the courage to focus on the medium and long term. BNDES is our great infrastructure tool for structuring projects throughout the country. I hope that Alagoas will be seen by the National Congress and by the governors of the whole country as an example to be followed, of the need to bring private initiative as a partner in facing this problem that is common to us all,” Montezano added.

“I appreciate BNDES’s technical ability to organize this event. Modern Brazil is to be built. The association of poor income distribution with the number of people below the poverty line and the poor situation of basic sanitation in Brazil is still a medieval aspect in this country. This event here will bring us new directions for Brazil’s development,” said the governor of Alagoas, Renan Filho.

The Minister of Regional Development, Rogério Marinho, also praised the importance of BNDES in building a new business model involving the public and private sectors. “BNDES has a fundamental role in structuring good projects that provide investors with security.”

In all, BNDES and the state of Alagoas received seven proposals from consortiums interested in the regionalized concession of the Metropolitan Region of Maceió. Among the competitors were large companies. In addition to BRK Ambiental, participated, in a consortium or independently, the companies: AEGEA, Águas do Brasil, Equatorial, Sonel, Sabesp, Iguá, Conasa, Zetta, Ello, Enops and Aviva. After the opening of envelopes there was no open outcry trading, because BRK Ambiental’s bid was more than 20% higher than the others.

BRK Ambiental will be committed to promoting water distribution and sewage collection for 1.5 million inhabitants in 13 cities in the Greater Maceió, with infrastructure investments around R$ 2.6 billion during the 35-year contract. To accelerate the transformation of Alagoas’s reality, the model developed by BNDES required that, of this total, R$ 2 billion be invested already in the first six years of the concession, that is, by 2026.

“Sanitation is the major driving force behind the recovery of the Brazilian economy and our mission is to join forces so that the country can advance quickly in this sector. By our water and sewage services, we have already benefited the lives of 15 million people and, with Casal’s concession, 1.5 million more Brazilians will be positively impacted. Basic sanitation is an essential service and we want to ensure access to water and sewage with efficiency and quality,” reinforces Teresa Vernaglia, CEO of BRK Ambiental.

The concession will universalize the water service in the metropolitan region of Maceió in these first six years of contract and bring access to the sewage network for 90% of the people in the region until the sixteenth year of contract. Today, only 27% of the population have access to this service. The future concessionaire will also have to meet several indicators of performance quality and efficiency in the provision of services, in addition to reducing water losses to a maximum of 20%. Today, the waste rate in the region is 59% of the water produced.

BNDES and Sanitation – The auction for water and sewage sanitation in Granter Maceió is only the first in a series of actions led by BNDES to improve services. By the end of 2021, BNDES intends to structure projects for basic sanitation in at least nine other Brazilian states, with planned investments of around R$ 50 billion, which will directly benefit more than 30 million Brazilians.

“There is a robust pipeline capable of raising significant market interest. BNDES’s mission is to repeat what we did here today with the sanitation of Alagoas, opening the market and promoting competition,” explained the managing director of the Infrastructure, Concessions and PPPs Division, Fábio Abrahão.

About BRK Ambiental – BRK Ambiental is the largest private sanitation company in the country and is present in more than 100 Brazilian municipalities, benefiting the lives of 15 million people. An integral part of Brookfield, a Canadian company that arrived in Brazil in 1899 and invests and manages assets in more than 30 countries, BRK Ambiental still has the FI FGTS as a partner and reinforces the tradition of its members in contributing to economic and social development, investing in an important sector for the country’s future and the quality of life of millions of Brazilians.

About BNDES – Founded in 1952 and currently linked to the Ministry of Economy, BNDES is the main instrument of the Federal Government to promote long-term investments in the Brazilian economy. Its actions focus on the socioenvironmental and economic impact in Brazil. BNDES offers special conditions for micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, as well as social investment lines, directed at education and health, family agriculture, sanitation and urban transport. In crisis situations, BNDES acts in an anticyclical manner and assists in formulating solutions for resuming economic growth.