Brazilian state-owned oil and gas group Petrobras has approved the sale of its fully-owned subsidiary Liquigás Distribuidora, which operates in the bottling, distribution and sale of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), to Ultrapar Participações for R$2.8bn (US$819m, as part of its strategy to reduce its US$130bn debt. The sale was announced in June 2016.
Liquigás is present in almost all Brazilian states, with 23 operative centres, 19 deposits, 1 storage and rail base, and a network of around 4,800 authorized resellers, with a market share of 23%. The acquisition would double Ultrapar's current 23% market share and would help the company expand margins.
Petrobras is facing a stagnating production and suffering low oil prices and is involved in a large corruption scandal. The company's debt is nearing US$130bn and Petrobras has committed to sell US$14bn of assets in 2016.