Piauí will receive R$ 2,6 billion after an agreement on the privatization of Cepisa.

The state of Piauí will receive R$ 2,6 billion from the Federal Government and Axia Energia as compensation related to the process that led to the privatization of the former Cepisa (Companhia Energética do Piauí).

The amount results from an agreement reached to end a legal dispute that had dragged on for almost a decade in the STF (Supreme Federal Court), involving the consequences of the delay in the privatization of the distributor.

In a relevant fact disclosed last Friday (21), Axia Energia — the new corporate name of the former Eletrobras — reported that, after the conciliation hearing held on June 23, it signed a Transaction Agreement with the Union and the State of Piauí on the 20th to fully resolve the controversy arising from Original Civil Action 3.024. The agreement will still be submitted to the STF for approval.

Axia's share totals R$ 1,3 billion and will be paid in two installments of R$ 650 million, the first within five business days after the final judgment of the agreement's approval, and the second by December 20, 2026.

The other half, R$1,3 billion, will be the responsibility of the Federal Government, through the issuance of a court order for payment. According to the company, the amount corresponding to its share was already provisioned.

Delay in sale

The origin of the dispute dates back to 1997, when the State of Piauí transferred controlling shares of Cepisa to the Federal Government and the then Eletrobras, as part of the National Privatization Plan.

The expectation was that the distributor would be privatized in a relatively short time, but the process faced successive delays and bureaucratic obstacles.

The delay lasted for years, and during that period, the company accumulated operating deficits and lost market value. Privatization was only completed in 2018, when Cepisa was acquired by Equatorial Energia.

Even before the sale was finalized in 2017, the state government took the controversy to the Supreme Federal Court (STF) through ACO 3.024, filed against the Federal Government, Eletrobras, and BNDES. Piauí argued that it had suffered financial losses due to the postponement of the privatization and issues related to the management and valuation of the company.

Expertise, judgment and conciliation

The process moved forward with the completion of an economic and financial audit ordered by the Supreme Federal Court (STF), conducted by the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) to determine the economic effects of postponing the auction.

In February 2024, BNDES was relieved of civil liability in the lawsuit, while the Brazilian government and Eletrobras were found obligated to compensate the state.

The methodology defined for the calculation considered the average premiums obtained in auctions of similar distributors in the year 2000, updated by the IGP-M (General Price Index - Market) and interest of 6% per year. In the calculations that preceded the negotiated solution, the amount to be charged reached approximately R$ 3,5 billion to R$ 3,6 billion.

The attempt to end the process by consensus took shape on June 23 of this year, when the parties participated in a conciliation hearing mediated by Minister Luiz Fux, the case's rapporteur at the Supreme Federal Court (STF).

The agreement reached culminated in the Settlement Agreement signed on August 20, setting the total compensation amount at R$ 2,6 billion and ending the litigation related to Original Civil Action 3.024.

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