Companhia Energetica do Rio Grande do Norte (Cosern)

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Companhia Energetica do Rio Grande do Norte (Cosern) is an integrated electric utility serving the state of Rio Grande do Norte. In 1997, its concession area covered 53,167 square kilometers and it served 166 municipalities and the company had 590,769 customers. Consern buys most of the electricity that it sells from Electrobras. For instance, it bought 2,534 GWh of the 2,084 GWh that it sold in 1996 from Electrobras. The company was partially privatized in December 1997, when the state government sold a 80% equity stake for $606 million (R$676.4 million) to a consortium led by Brazilian Coelba, the electric distribution company for the state of Bahia, and Iberdrola, which itself controls Coelba. The wining bid represented a premium of 73.6% above the minimum price. In 2001, through a US$23.3 million tender offer for an additional 19.5% of Cosern’s shares, the consortium increased its participation to 92.46% of the total capital (in which it is included the ownership of 92.97% of the voting capital). As of 2005, Cosern's main shareholders were Previ and Iberdrola (both directly and indirectly through Neoenergia), in addition to Banco do Brasil (10.1%), and Uptick Participacoes SA (5.8%) among others. In 2000, Cosern negotiated the issuance of US$ 38.5 million in debentures to refinance its debts. In 2009, Cosern was granted a total of US$ 18.4 million (BRL 36.7 million) in loans from Eletrobrás, FINEP e Banco do Nordeste. http://www.cosern.com.br/ http://www.neoenergia.com/Demonstracoes_Contabeis_Anuais/Cosern/COSERN%20-%20DFP%202006.pdf