Odebrecht Sees Possibility of IPOs for Stadiums, Power Units, Fonseca Says

Odebrecht SA, Latin America’s largest engineering and construction company by sales, is considering forming partnerships and selling shares in initial public offerings, according to an executive.

The company may sell shares in its energy units, said Jayme Fonseca, chief financial officer at Construtora Norberto Odebrecht SA, the construction unit. Potential public offerings also include stadiums for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, in which the group will act as an investor with the right to operate projects after their construction, he said.

“CNO, with its position as a major construction company in Brazil, is seeing that the infrastructure market is going to demand many investments or capital injections,” Fonseca said in a telephone interview from Sao Paulo yesterday.

The energy units that may have initial public offerings are oil and gas company Odebrecht Oleo e Gas Ltda. and ETH Bioenergia SA, an ethanol producer, he said. Odebrecht operates in South America, Central America, North America, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. In 2009, the company had sales of 41 billion reais ($24 billion).

“The shareholders’ capacity for investment reaches a limit and you need to diversify your equity, allowing the entry of other partners,” he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Felipe Frisch in São Paulo at ffrisch1@bloomberg.net

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