Quadra Capital wins Brazil’s first port privatization auction

With a BRL 106 million (USD 22.2 million) premium bid, São Paulo-based asset management company Quadra Capital won the auction for control over Codesa, the port authority of Vitória, the capital city of the state of Espírito Santo. To have the full rights to Codesa, the company now has to pay another BRL 327 million for its shares. The contract allows for the operation of two terminals in Vitória and Barra do Riacho, in the northern portion of the state, for at least 35 years. 

Quadra Capital faced-off competition from a consortium led by Vinci.

The privatization is seen as a last notch on Infrastructure Minister Tarcísio de Freitas’s belt, who is due to resign in a few days to make himself eligible for the São Paulo gubernatorial race. 

During the past weeks, Mr. Freitas called the Codesa auction a “prelude” to major privatization plans in the sector. Before leaving office, the minister commenced talks over the privatization of the Santos Port Authority (SPA), expected to happen later this year.

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