Brazil Pension Funds Seeks Stake In Jirau Dam - Report

SA0 PAULO (Dow Jones)-Brazilian pension funds Funcef and Petros are jointly evaluating the acquisition of a 9.99% stake in the Jirau power dam project, according to a report Wednesday in local business daily Valor Economico.

The report cited Funcef President Guilherme Lacerda.

Funcef is the pension fund for workers of Brazil's state-run bank Caixa Economica Federal, while Petros is the pension fund for workers at energy company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras (PBR).

Both pension funds are evaluating the acquisition of the stake held by local industrial conglomerate Camargo Correa. Lacerda did not indicate a price for the stake, however, according to a source consulted by the newspaper it could reach 300 million Brazilian reals ($164 million).

GDF Suez SA (GSZ.FR) has a 50.1% stake in the Jirau project, while two subsidiaries of Brazil's state-controlled power utility Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA (EBR), or Eletrobras, have a 40% stake.

Jirau, which is located on the Madeira River in the western Amazon, will generate around 3,450 megawatts of electricity, enough to power roughly 10 million homes.

The project has a total investment cost of up to BRL12 billion and is expected to start operations in 2012.

-By Rogerio Jelmayer, Dow Jones Newswires; 55-11-2847-4521; [e-mail]