White & Case advises underwriters and placement agents on Sabesp’s R$14.8 billion (US$2.7 billion) Equity offering and privatization

Global law firm White & Case LLP has advised a syndicate of international underwriters and placement agents on the R$14.8 billion (US$2.7 billion) equity offering of Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo – SABESP, one of the world's largest water and sewage providers, making it the largest privatization in Brazil and the largest equity offering in Latin America to-date since June 2022, and the third-largest public offering globally to-date this year.

The fully secondary follow-on offering, which closed on July 22, 2024, comprised a registered offering of shares in Brazil, an SEC-registered international offering of American Depositary Shares and an international placement of shares outside Brazil.

The São Paulo State government sold 220.47 million shares, or 32 percent of SABESP's shares, in this offering, reducing its stake in SABESP from just over 50 percent to 18 percent. 15 percent of the shares in this offering were acquired by a subsidiary of Equatorial Energia S.A., and the remaining shares were sold to individual and corporate investors, as well as to SABESP employees.

The SABESP privatization marks a transformative development in Brazil's infrastructure sector, with broad social impacts, including improved sanitation and water availability, significantly benefiting public health and quality of life in the country.

The White & Case team was led by partners Donald Baker and John Guzman, and associate Clara Silva (all in São Paulo).

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