The City Council of Londrina has resumed its abandoned sale of regional telecoms operator Sercomtel, in which it holds a majority stake. The latest attempt to offload the telco will take the form of a BRL130 million (USD24.1 million) ‘corporate restructuring’, which seeks to transfer control of the business to the private sector. With reference to the failed earlier attempt to sell the telco (see below), Juarez Tridapalli, the Municipal Secretary of Government, commented: ‘At the time, as there were no interested parties, so we re-evaluated the scenario and defined another model, which we believe to be more attractive. In the first, the dispute was over the value of capitalisation. Now, we have established a fixed capitalisation, and the amount will also be paid in instalments.’ As per the new guidelines, BRL50 million must be paid upfront, in exchange for newly issued shares, while the remainder must be paid within 18 months.
As previously reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, the deadline for bids for Sercomtel was set at 31 January 2020, but none of the five parties that acquired bidding papers opted to register their official participation in the process. At that time the reserve price for the telco was set at BRL130 million. In May 2019 the City Council of Londrina – which holds a 50.88% stake in the telco – voted to privatise Sercomtel after an 18-1 ballot in favour of the proposal. Power company Companhia Paranaense de Energia (Copel) holds a 45.00% stake in the operator, with the remaining 4.12% distributed between minority shareholders.