By Jeffrey T. Lewis


SÃO PAULO--Petróleo Brasileiro said Monday evening that it requested access to chemical company Braskem's due diligence information while Braskem's controlling shareholder is in talks to sell its stake in the company.

The state-controlled oil company known as Petrobras said it hadn't made any decisions in relation to the sale process for Braskem, and is just exercising its rights to access to the information.

Novonor, the engineering and construction company formerly known as Odebrecht, owns 38% of Braskem's total shares, representing 50.1% of voting shares. Novonor and its creditor banks are in talks to sell most of that stake to another Brazilian chemical company, Unipar Carbocloro, and last week Braskem said Novonor agreed to begin the due diligence process with the potential buyer.

Petrobras owns 36% of Braskem and 47% of its voting shares, and also has a right to first refusal if Novonor agrees to sell its stake to a third party.


Write to Jeffrey T. Lewis at jeffrey.lewis@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-11-23 0842ET