2023-12-28 23:30

SAO PAULO, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Engie Brasil (EGIE3.SA) said on Thursday it had reached a deal to sell a 15% stake in natural gas pipeline firm TAG to Canadian investment fund Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec (CDPQ) for 3.1 billion reais ($641 million). After the deal's conclusion, CDPQ will raise its stake in TAG to 50%, while Engie Brasil will own 17.5% and its French parent company will hold the rest, giving it an indirect 50% stake. In 2019, Engie and CDPQ jointly acquired a 90% stake in TAG from state-run oil firm Petrobras (PETR4.SA) for about $8.6 billion at the time, purchasing the remainder the following year. TAG owns and operates a large part of Brazil's natural gas pipelines with some 4,500 km (2,800 miles) over 10 states in the country that have a firm contracted natural gas handling capacity of 74.67 million cubic meters per day. The deal, which is expected to close by the end of January pending regulatory approvals, implies an enterprise value of 37.5 billion reais for TAG, compared with 35.1 billion reais in 2019, according to Engie. The proceeds of the sale will be used to implement Engie Brasil's investment plan in renewable energy and transmission lines "without increasing pressure on leverage, ratings and payout," Chief Financial Officer Eduardo Takamori said in a statement. The company will hold a conference call on Friday morning to discuss the transaction. ($1 = 4.8501 reais) https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/engie-brasil-sells-15-stake-gas-pipeline-firm-tag-cdpq-2023-12-28/

2023-12-28 22:07

HOUSTON, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Struggling liquefied natural gas (LNG) developer Tellurian(TELL.A) on Thursday said it has hired a financial adviser to assist in balance sheet management. Tellurian ousted its chairman and co-founder Charif Souki, earlier this month weeks after auditors raised doubts about the company's ability to cover future expenses. Chairman Martin Houston in a letter to shareholders said the adviser will "assist with shaping commercial structures as well as balance sheet management." Earlier in the day the company said it swapped $37.9 million in notes from a 2025 bond for shares and an agreement that eliminated a Jan. 1 debt payment. "I hope that these early steps will go some way to helping bolster confidence in the leadership of your company", Houston wrote. The advisor "will provide valuable assistance and guidance in the coming weeks", he added. On Wednesday, a filing showed that another investor, Chatterjee Fund Management, had increased its stake in Tellurian to 7.3%, from 5.2% previously. Tellurian shares fell 7.3% to about 88 cents following the disclosure, retracing an earlier gain. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Souki helped create the U.S. LNG export market in 1996 after seizing on discoveries of vast amounts of shale gas. He turned Cheniere Energy from an LNG importer into a major exporter, but was unable to repeat the same success at Tellurian. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/lng-developer-tellurian-hires-financial-advisor-chairman-martin-houston-2023-12-28/

2023-12-28 20:55

WASHINGTON Dec 28 (Reuters) - France, Germany, Britain and the United States on Thursday condemned an increase by Iran in the production rate of highly enriched uranium of up to 60% purity, close to the level used for nuclear weapons fuel. In a joint statement, the allies made no mention of any consequences Iran could face for the production hike but called for its reversal and said they remained "committed to a diplomatic solution" of the feud over Tehran's nuclear program. "The production of high-enriched uranium by Iran has no credible civilian justification," the statement said. "These decisions ... represent reckless behavior in a tense regional context." Since the start of Israel's offensive against Gaza's ruling Hamas militants, Iran-backed proxies have increased their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and on U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria, sharply increasing tensions in the region. Israel launched its operation in response to Hamas' Oct. 7 rampage into Israel. The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in a report on Tuesday that Iran had reversed a months-long slowdown in the production rate of highly enriched uranium up to 60% purity. "We condemn this action, which adds to the unabated escalation of Iran’s nuclear program," the joint statement said. Iran on Wednesday dismissed the IAEA report as "nothing new" and said it was running its program "according to the rules." Tehran already has enough uranium of 60% purity, if enriched to 90%, to make three nuclear bombs, according to the IAEA's theoretical definition. Iran has denied seeking nuclear weapons. Britain, France and Germany remain parties to the 2015 deal designed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Former U.S. President Donald Trump reneged on the accord in 2018, prompting Iran to gradually violate its strictures. https://www.reuters.com/world/france-germany-uk-us-condemn-irans-increase-uranium-enrichment-2023-12-28/

2023-12-28 19:58

BRASILIA, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Brazil's Finance Minister Fernando Haddad unveiled on Thursday tax adjustments to limit benefits across various sectors and ensure fiscal compensation, which are expected to face opposition in Congress. The package aims to completely replace the text of an approved bill that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva vetoed, just to have it overturned by Congress two weeks ago. Speaking at a press conference, Haddad said that all measures would constitute an executive order to be released this year. Once signed by Lula, the measures would be immediately effective for four months, but would require Congress approval to go past that period. The changes erase rules approved by lawmakers for small towns and scale back tax benefits to companies, and they are likely to face political scrutiny, said Senator Efraim Filho, the author of the bill targeted by the replacement proposal. "The issuance of the executive order contradicts a decision made by a broad majority in Congress. It will face resistance right from the start," he wrote on social media. Haddad, who reiterated the government's intention to pursue balanced public accounts in 2024, had previously indicated that the government would present a substitute proposal for the bill. It originally extended payroll tax exemptions for 17 labor sectors until 2027, and its impact had not yet been incorporated into the 2024 budget. The minister clarified on Thursday that the majority revenue loss, around 15 billion reais ($3.09 billion), was expected to arise from a change contained in the text that reduced the contribution rate on payroll for smaller municipalities from 20% to 8%. According to Haddad, the executive order is now set to remove this whole part, which will be subject to further negotiation. The remaining impact of the bill, amounting to 12 billion reais, will be compensated in the new measure with tax adjustments on three fronts, said the secretary of the revenue service, Robinson Barreirinhas. The government will propose a phased end to payroll tax exemptions for the benefited sectors, suggesting that, in exchange for the standard 20% rate on the payroll, companies pay 10% or 15%, depending on their category, on the equivalent of one minimum wage for each of their formal workers. According to Haddad, this alternative has an annual cost of 6 billion reais, which will be offset by changes aiming to reduce post-pandemic tax benefits granted to the event industry through the "PERSE" program, eventually eliminating it by 2025. A third measure will restrict the ability of taxpayers to offset taxes annually, added the minister. Barreirinhas stressed that the annual ceiling for tax compensation is not yet established and will be further regulated, but 30% is a parameter that could be adopted. "The idea is to implement a scaling, the higher the value, the longer the period of use (of the tax credit), but limited to five years," he said, adding that the limitation will only apply to tax credits received in judicial cases above 10 million reais. In a note to clients, analysts' at XP positively assessed the proposal, mentioning a "good probability of achieving fiscal gains" with the measures, which may mitigate current distortions. "For now, we maintain our primary deficit projection of 91.6 billion reais (0.8% of GDP), but the risks are tilted to the upside." ($1 = 4.8584 reais) https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazils-haddad-unveils-set-tax-tweaks-ensure-balanced-public-accounts-2023-12-28/

2023-12-28 19:54

MEXICO CITY, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Mexican and U.S. officials have agreed to work together more closely to tackle record migration at their shared border, the countries' governments said in a joint statement on Thursday, a day after high-level talks on stemming record numbers. Following a visit to Mexico by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the countries said they would seek to strengthen a sponsorship initiative for Venezuelan, Cuban, Nicaraguan and Haitian migrants and look to tackle the root causes of migration. The delegations, who are set to meet again in Washington next month, also discussed regularizing the situation of beneficiaries of the U.S. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program - the so-called Dreamers who were brought into the country illegally as children - and long-time undocumented Hispanic migrants living in the United States. The talks came after the U.S. temporarily shuttered some border crossings to redeploy agents toward enforcement, sparking a trade slowdown and criticism by Republicans of the Biden administration's border policies. Immigration and the border are expected to be top issues in the U.S. 2024 elections, where President Joe Biden, a Democrat, is running for a second term. Earlier Thursday, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the two parties had agreed to keep border crossings open after the temporary closures. "This agreement has been reached, the rail crossings and the border bridges are already being opened to normalize the situation," Lopez Obrador told a morning press conference. Lopez Obrador said Wednesday's meetings with the U.S. delegation were "direct," and he praised the Biden administration's relationship with Mexico. 'FAITH IN GOD' More than half a million migrants this year crossed the dangerous Darien Gap jungle connecting South America with Central America – double last year's record – with many fleeing crime, poverty and conflict to seek better prospects in the United States. The latest of a series of caravans of migrants and asylum seekers, many with small children, is slowly walking across southern Mexico, heading towards the U.S border. Lopez Obrador estimated that the caravan counts some 1,500 people but some activists and local media have put the figure at 7,000. "We have to have faith in God," Honduran migrant Marvin Mejias said as he traveled with his son, who has had foot surgery. Mejias said he hoped the governments had reached a deal which would help him enter the U.S. and be able to work there. Lopez Obrador said the issue of fentanyl, a powerful and deadly opioid that Mexican cartels have been trafficking into the U.S., was "hardly discussed" in Wednesday's meeting. The United States has been pressing Mexico to do more to combat fentanyl trafficking, while Mexico has been pushing for stronger U.S. controls to prevent U.S. firearms from reaching the powerful cartels. https://www.reuters.com/world/us-mexico-keep-border-crossings-open-lopez-obrador-says-2023-12-28/

2023-12-28 19:24

NEW YORK, Dec 28 (Reuters) - A U.S. bankruptcy judge has approved cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network's pivot to bitcoin mining, ruling that the company could deviate from a previously approved bankruptcy plan because creditors and customers were no worse off under the new restructuring. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn in Manhattan on Wednesday said the bankruptcy plan approved in November contained enough flexibility to allow Celsius to switch to a backup plan after it hit a road block with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Celsius filed for Chapter 11 protection in July 2022, one of several crypto lenders to go bankrupt following the rapid growth of the industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Celsius had scaled back broader ambitions to earn fees from validating crypto transactions and start new lines of business after the SEC rejected that plan. The switch also meant that Celsius would part ways with some of the outside bidders that were selected to manage the new company, leaving mining company US Bitcoin Corp squarely in charge of running the new, creditor-owned mining business. US Bitcoin Corp, founded by Hut 8's Asher Genoot, was originally going to manage Celsius alongside other companies in a consortium of bidders which included Arrington Capital and was collectively called "Fahrenheit." Some creditors, as well as the U.S. Department of Justice's bankruptcy watchdog, argued that the change was significant enough that Celsius should have to put the proposal up for a new vote by creditors. Glenn was initially sympathetic to that argument, saying during a Nov. 30 court hearing that the mining plan was "not the deal that the creditors voted on." But Glenn ultimately approved the deal without requiring a new vote. "This is a significant day for Celsius creditors and our focus on promptly distributing cryptocurrency continues to guide us," Celsius' interim CEO, Chris Ferraro, said on Thursday. Celsius expects to emerge from bankrutpcy in early 2024. Celsius' scaled-back bankruptcy plan also frees up $225 million in cryptocurrency assets that would have been used to fund the new business lines that were rejected by the SEC. As a result, more cryptocurrency from Celsius will be returned to customers, Glenn wrote, and customers will also receive equity shares in the new bitcoin mining business. https://www.reuters.com/technology/celsius-network-wins-court-approval-shift-bitcoin-mining-2023-12-28/