Brazil’s Auren Energia keeps up M&A focus with new deal

Brazil’s Auren Energia is about to make yet another acquisition to continue its M&A-driven expansion.   

On Wednesday, the company said it had signed an agreement to purchase local power trading firm Esfera Energia. 

The announcement follows last month’s acquisition of AES Brasil, which turned it into the third largest power generator in the country.  

Created in 2015, Esfera serves 570 business groups and manages some 1,600 contracts for the purchase and sale on the free energy market, in addition to having 142 generating units in its portfolio. The company’s revenues of totaled 324mn reais in 2023. 

The acquisition is subject to authorizations from electric power regulator Aneel and antitrust authority Cade, as well as electricity trading chamber CCEE. 

Auren said it expects the operation to be concluded in the second half of this year.  

In recent years, the company has been expanding its energy trading business through partnerships and investments in other firms. 

These include stakes in Flora Energia Renovável, a distributed generation marketplace; Way2 Serviços de Tecnologia, a technology company specializing in telemetry and energy management; and Aquarela Inovação Tecnológica do Brasil, which offers artificial intelligence solutions for industry and large companies. 

In 2023, Auren also formed a retail-focused joint venture with Vivo, which is a brand of Telefônica Brasil.