The general board of the Brazilian anti-trust authority Cade has decided that local flats producer CSN will have to sell the capital stake it owns at the competitor Usiminas, from today’s 17 percent until a maximum 5 percent is achieved.
The decision reverts a recent individual determination by the superintendent of Cade, who had changed the long-term jurisprudence of the court that limited to 5 percent the capital participation in competitor companies.
The decision is considered by analysts as a partial victory for Usiminas, as CSN is now prohibited to buy additional shares of the company and cannot interfere with its administration, but on the negative side, the court did not establish a deadline for the conclusion of the sale of the shares.
One of the counselors of Cade was quoted by the newspaper Valor Economico as saying that, if CSN adopts an anti-competition procedure, it will have to sell its Usiminas shares immediately.
The case dates to 2011, when CSN decided to buy shares of the Usiminas capital, in a questionable strategy to interfere in the administration of the company.