SAO PAULO, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Brazilian private equity firm Patria Investments Ltd won an auction on Friday to operate a set of highways in the state of Parana in the first tender of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's "growth acceleration" plan.
Patria offered a discount of 18.25% on the maximum toll of the highways, beating its only competitor, a consortium formed by the Equipav group and the Perfin Voyager investment fund, according to Brazil's stock exchange operator, which held the open auction.
The batch of highways is comprised of 473 kilometers (294 miles) of federal and state highways located in the southern Brazilian state.
Under the concession, Patria will have to invest 8 billion reais ($1.64 billion) in the roads over a 30-year period.
President Lula's "growth acceleration" plan was launched earlier this month and foresees 1.7 trillion reais ($347.5 billion) in investments and public-private partnerships.
A second lot of highways in Parana state, comprising 605 kilometers (376 miles), is scheduled to be auctioned on September 29.
($1 = 4.8649 reais) (Reporting by Alberto Alerigi Jr.; Writing by Peter Frontini; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
