Brazil's Temer Plans to Ask Pedro Parente to Head Petrobras
20 May 2016 - 3:30AM
Dow Jones News
SÃ O PAULO—Brazilian acting President Michel Temer plans to ask
Pedro Parente, a former chief executive officer of Bunge Brasil, to
head state-run oil company Petró leo Brasileiro SA, a spokeswoman
in the office of Mr. Temer's chief of staff said Thursday.
The invitation is likely to be made late Thursday in a meeting
between Mr. Temer and Mr. Parente, the spokeswoman said. Brazilian
news media have reported recently that Mr. Parente is reluctant to
accept the job at Petrobras, as the oil company is known, for
personal reasons.
Mr. Temer, who stepped in for President Dilma Rousseff last week
after Brazil's Senate voted to hold an impeachment trial for her,
has already announced most of the members of his new cabinet and is
replacing the heads of some state-run companies.
Mr. Parente is currently chairman of stock-market operator
BM&FBovespa SA. A spokesman for the company declined to
comment, as did Petrobras. Mr. Parente was the chief executive of
the Brazilian unit of White Plains, N.Y.-based Bunge Ltd., one of
Brazil's top grain exporters, from 2010 to 2014.
Mr. Parente would be taking the helm of Petrobras as it grapples
with the continued fallout from a massive corruption scandal, low
oil prices, belligerent unions, and the biggest debt pile in the
global oil industry.
He would bring a range of government experience to the job,
having served as deputy finance minister and chief of staff to
former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, among other
positions.
Mr. Parente would replace Aldemir Bendine, who during his
15-month tenure at Petrobras won praise for his efforts to help
Petrobras begin to recover from an epic bid-rigging-and-bribery
ring that prosecutors said had looted the company for at least a
decade and was also marked by the company's biggest-ever write
downs.
Petrobras is slashing investment spending and has worked to sell
off numerous assets. After a slow start in 2015, the company's $15
billion divestment plan has recently shown signs of life. Earlier
this month, Petrobras sold parts of its assets in Chile and
Argentina for a combined $1.4 billion, and entered into exclusive
talks with Canada's Brookfield Asset Management, Inc. to sell its
gas pipeline unit Nova Transportadora do Sudeste.
But the company stills face the global oil industry's biggest
debt load. Petrobras's total debt in the first quarter was $125
billion.
Petrobras's preferred shares were down 4.5% at 1:15 local time
(12:31 p.m. EDT), while Brazil's benchmark stock index, the
Ibovespa, was down 1%.
Luciana Magalhaes contributed to this article.
Write to Rogerio Jelmayer at rogerio.jelmayer@wsj.com and Will
Connors at william.connors@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 19, 2016 13:15 ET (17:15 GMT)
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