Brazil · Markets

A change of control at one of Latin America’s largest petrochemical makers has reached its next step. Braskem’s new owners have filed a Braskem tender offer to buy out remaining shareholders, even as an old environmental disaster keeps shadowing the company.

Brazil’s Braskem Faces Buyout Offer Amid Sinking City Fallout (Photo internet reproduction)

The Shine I Investment Fund, part of the new control block, filed a request with Brazil’s securities commission, the CVM, and the B3 exchange for a public share-acquisition offer covering all ordinary and preferred shares, Money Times reported.

A new owner, a formal buyout

The filing came days after the private-equity manager IG4, tied to the Shine fund, and Petrobras completed the purchase of control previously held by an entity linked to Novonor, the group once known as Odebrecht. The tender offer aims to acquire the whole company, though it has not yet been launched and depends on CVM and B3 approval.

For minority shareholders, an offer for 100% of the shares is the moment a change of control becomes personal: a chance to exit, at a price still to be defined.

The Maceió shadow

Hanging over the deal is Maceió. Braskem has spent years and billions of reais on the fallout from ground subsidence in the northeastern city, linked to its salt-mining operations, paying indemnities, relocating residents, sealing wells and funding environmental monitoring.

The liability is not fully closed, and the possibility of further costs or legal decisions remains a source of uncertainty. Combined with a weak global petrochemical market, it helps explain why the stock has fallen about 7% over the past year even as ownership changes hands.

What Braskem does. Braskem S.A., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture, sale, import, and export of chemicals, petrochemicals, and fuels in Brazil. The company supplies electricity and other inputs to second-generation producers; sells utilities, such as steam, water, compressed air and industrial gases; industrial services; and engages in the production, supply, and sale…

What the offer actually means

Control of Braskem has changed hands. Novonor, the former Odebrecht group, agreed to sell its controlling stake to a new set of investment funds, a deal that closed in mid-2026. Under Brazilian rules, whoever takes control of a listed company must then make a public offer to buy the shares still held by everyone else, on the same terms. That is the “tender offer” in the headlines: a chance for ordinary shareholders to sell out at the agreed price. Petrobras, the state-run oil company, remains a major shareholder and is negotiating how the business will be governed from here.

For investors, the offer sets a clear price on the company and removes some of the uncertainty that hung over its ownership for years. But it also arrives while one very large problem is still being paid off.

The Maceió disaster hanging over the company

For decades Braskem mined salt beneath the city of Maceió, in northeastern Brazil. The ground above those mines began to sink and crack, forcing tens of thousands of residents to abandon entire neighborhoods. Braskem has set aside billions of reais (several billion US dollars) to compensate families, relocate them and shore up the affected areas. That bill, and the reputational damage that comes with it, is the “fallout” that continues to weigh on the share price even as the ownership question is resolved.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did Braskem’s new owner file?

A request for a public tender offer (OPA) to acquire 100% of Braskem’s ordinary and preferred shares, submitted to the CVM and B3. It has not yet launched and needs regulatory approval.

Who controls Braskem now?

A group including the Shine I fund, linked to private-equity firm IG4, and Petrobras, which took control from an entity tied to Novonor, formerly Odebrecht.

Why does Maceió matter?

Ground subsidence in Maceió linked to Braskem’s operations has cost the company billions of reais in indemnities and remediation, with further costs still possible, a persistent drag on the stock.