Representation questions the actions of the president of the company’s Board of Directors with Equatorial; the government of São Paulo and the company deny irregularities
The leader of the PT/PCdoB/PV Federation in Alesp (Legislative Assembly of the State of São Paulo), deputy Paulo Fiorilo (PT), filed in the MP-SP (Public Prosecutor’s Office of São Paulo) a complaint so that the agency can investigate an alleged “conflict of interest” in the privatization process of Sabesp (Basic Sanitation Company of the State of São Paulo).
The document requests that the MP-SP investigate the participation of the current president of the company’s Board of Directors, Karla Bertocco Trindade, on the Board of Directors of Equatorial, a position she held until December 2023. Equatorial was the only finalist in the public offering to become a reference shareholder of the company. Here is the full (PDF – 540 kB).
Among the requests, there is also the verification of the legality of the contracts and decisions taken by Sabesp under the management of the executive and the prevention of their implementation. “any harm to the public interest”. Here is the full of the document (PDF – 540 kB).
The complaint is based on a report by S. Paulo Newspaper which reported the participation of the president of the Board of Directors of Sabesp in Equatorial as a member of the board.
The report states that, when contacted, the Government of São Paulo said that Bertocco’s participation in Equatorial had ended before the process of dialogue with groups interested in privatization began and that the Sabesp board did not participate in decisions about the modeling.
However, the leader of the PT/PCdoB/PV Federation says that there is “evidence that contradicts this official version”. He cites, for example, participation in meetings considered “decisive” It is “remuneration issues”.
According to the filed document, the fact “raises serious concerns about possible conflicts of interest and the transparency of the Sabesp privatization process”.
THE OTHER SIDE
In a statement, the state government said that Bertocco has already served as a member of different boards of directors of publicly-held companies, such as Corsan, Equatorial and Orizon.
In the case of Equatorial, its performance as an independent member ended on December 29, 2023, therefore, in a period prior to the start of the modeling of Sabesp’s public offering.
“Information about his participation in other management positions has been public since his election as Chairman of the Board of Sabesp in 2023. At the time, there was no prohibition on his participation in other boards, neither by the State-Owned Companies Law nor by the Corporation Law, nor by Sabesp’s Code of Conduct and Integrity”, states.
To the Poder360Equatorial stated (read the full text at the end) that Bertocco’s work “has always been aligned with the best governance practices of the company and the market, without any potential conflict of interest”.
“It is worth noting that she resigned from her position on the board of Equatorial in December 2023, long before the rules for the privatization process of Sabesp were defined, which took place through a secondary offering of state shares on B3.”
This digital newspaper also contacted Sabesp’s press office to obtain an official statement on the case. However, there was no response by the time this report was published. The space remains open.
PRIVATIZATION OF SABESP
The Government of São Paulo announced on Friday (June 28) that Equatorial Energia was the only finalist in the public offering of Sabesp shares. The infrastructure company offered R$6.9 billion for 15% stake.
On Tuesday (2 July), the company reported that it had raised part of the resources to achieve the status of Sabesp’s reference investor through a bridge loan.
In a presentation to investors, the company stated that in addition to the 18-month financing, it also has “various alternatives to be explored for contracting long-term financing for the acquisition”. Read the full of the presentation (PDF – 4 MB).
As a reference investor, Equatorial will be able to appoint the president of Sabesp and will have 3 seats in the new configuration of the board of directors.
Read the full statement from Equatorial:
“We note that the sanitation sector has been evaluated by Equatorial since the publication of the new sanitation framework, motivating participation in several public auctions, including the one that culminated in the acquisition of the sanitation concession in the State of Amapá, in 2021.
“In this context, the work then performed by the Independent Director, Ms. Karla Bertocco, from 2022 onwards, within the scope of the Board of Directors of Equatorial, was always aligned with the best governance practices of the Company and the market, without any action in potential conflict of interest, it is worth noting that she resigned from her position on the board of Equatorial, in December 2023, long before the definition of the rules for the privatization process of Sabesp, which occurred through a secondary offering of state shares on B3.
“It is worth mentioning that the Equatorial Group adopts the highest standards of corporate governance required by the Novo Mercado and maintains constant work of adaptation and continuous advancement, having consolidated, throughout 2022 and 2023, important policies and regulations to strengthen the levels of security and reliability of its management. The group strictly follows a Code of Ethics, which governs all the conduct of companies in Brazil and of their executives, in all their business and relationships.”
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