Serra Wastewater Utilities

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In October 2013, Consorcio Serra Ambiental, a partnership of the Brazilian companies Sonel Engenharia and Aterpa M. Martins (subsidiaries of Grupo Aterpa) and Maua Participacoes Estruturadas, was awarded the 30-year concession contract to expand, rehabilitate and operate the sewerage facilities of Serra, located at the state of Espirito Santo. The contract was awarded by the state-owned water and sewerage company Cosan, and the investments were expected to benefit around 467,000 people. The sponsors were awarded the contract by offering the lowest tariff (US$ 0.458 or BRL 1.06 per cubic meter, 22.05% below the ceiling set by the authorities). Besides Consorcio Serra Ambiental, three other companies took part in the bidding process: the Brazilian companies Aguas do Brasil, OAS Investimentos and Aegea. The contract was signed in July 2014, and the private sponsor took over the operations of the water and sewerage services in the same month. The special purpose company Concessionaria de Saneamento Serra Ambiental S/A was set to lead the project. The total investment during the 30-year project was estimated at US$ 267.2 million (BRL 628 million). The PPP contract envisaged that the concessionaire would receive the payments for its services from Cosan. This payments were comprised of a fixed remuneration to reimburse investment expenditures and a variable remuneration for its operational expenditures.