Cemar sale deadline extended after Mt. Baker readmitted

Brazil's electricity regulator Aneel has again extended the deadline for the sale of Maranhao state distributor Cemar after a court order put US company Mt. Baker enterprises back in the running, Aneel said in a statement. The US company and Brazil's SVM Participacoes e Empreendimentos are now both allowed to participate in the tender. Aneel disqualified Mt. Baker in November for failing to meet financial, judicial and tax requirements. The new January 16 bidding deadline is the second extension this month, and was granted to give interested parties more time following the December 12 court ruling that readmitted Mt. Baker to participate in the bidding. As result of the new deadline, Aneel now plans to conclude analysis of the proposals by January 26 and to end the whole process on February 6. US power company PPL Global bought Cemar in a 2000 privatization but walked away from the utility in July 2002. Aneel intervened in Cemar in August 2002 and has tried to sell the company three times since then. Cemar supplies electricity to 5.7 million residents in the northeastern state of Maranhao.