This Monday, the Federal Court approved an agreement signed between the regulatory agency Aneel and the distributor Amazonas Energia so that controlling interest in the concessionaire can be taken over by Âmbar Energia, a company belonging to the J&F holding company, according to a ruling published this Monday.
The approval comes after more than a year of impasses surrounding the case, which was brought to court in 2024 by the Amazonian distributor, then in a situation of financial unsustainability under the command of the Oliveira Energia group and at risk of losing the concession.
Aneel initially challenged the conditions proposed by the company of brothers Joesley and Wesley Batista to take control of the dealership, but the parties reached an agreement to end the legal dispute in September last year.
Under the agreement signed, Âmbar will have to make a contribution of R$9.8 billion in the short term to reduce the distributor’s debt. In return, you will be entitled to regulatory flexibility, in terms of energy losses and operational costs, which will cost the country’s electricity consumers billions of reais over 15 years.
The approval by the Court, which took place this Monday, was considered an essential step for Âmbar to officially take over the operations of the Amazonas distributor.
“I verify that the agreement was signed by capable parties, duly represented, and concerns available property rights, and there is no illegality, defect of consent or affront to public order that prevents its ratification”, says the sentence signed by federal judge Jaiza Maria Pinto Fraxe.
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When contacted, Âmbar and Aneel did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Amazonian concessionaire is the first energy distributor of Âmbar, the Batista platform for the electrical sector that has grown rapidly in the thermoelectric generation segment in recent years. After the agreement to take over Amazonas, Âmbar also announced the purchase of distributor Roraima Energia.
Amazonas Energia is considered one of the most difficult distribution concessions to operate in the country, due to its extensive area in regions of the Amazon rainforest. The company was privatized in 2018, but the purchasing group, Oliveira Energia, was unable to improve the economic-financial and operational situation of the distributor, which suffers from high defaults and high energy theft.
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This situation led Aneel to recommend the expiration of the company’s contract. To avoid the loss of the concession and intervention by public authorities in Amazonas Energia, the federal government issued a provisional measure in 2024 with actions to facilitate the economic and financial recovery of the distributor and attract a new controller. It was this measure that led J&F to enter the business.
