Oil M&As in Brazil tumble in 1H25, says KPMG
Oil and gas companies carried out 10 mergers and acquisitions in the first half of this year, which was a drop of nearly 30% compared to the same period in 2024, when 14 deals were closed.
The study, which was exclusively shared with BNamericas, is conducted quarterly by KPMG across 43 sectors of the economy.
Seven of the 10 deals involved foreign companies acquiring capital from another company established in Brazil. The other three were domestic transactions, that is, between organizations within the country.
“Compared to the last half, there was greater interest from foreigners buying Brazilian companies this year, surpassing domestic operations. This indicates that oil companies here are on the radar of foreign investors,” Paulo Guilherme Coimbra, research coordinator and partner at KPMG, told BNamericas.
Among the transactions realized (and publicly announced) in the first half was the sale by Prumo Logística of 70% of Vast Infraestrutura to China Merchants Port; the acquisition of 10 exploration blocks in the Foz do Amazonas basin by Petrobras and ExxonMobil; the acquisition of three exploration blocks in the Pelotas basin by Petrobras and Petrogal; the purchase of the Cidade de Itajaí FPSO by Karoon; and the acquisition of Capixaba Energia by Petro-Victory and BlueOak.
The KPMG study did not consider M&A transactions announced but not concluded in the period, such as PRIO‘s acquisition of 60% of Equinor‘s stake in the Peregrino field in the Campos basin, and Petrorecôncavo‘s purchase of 50% of Brava Energia‘s midstream assets in Rio Grande do Norte state.
Overview
Considering all sectors, Brazilian companies carried out 739 mergers and acquisitions in the first half of this year, a drop of almost 5% compared to the same period in 2024, when 776 deals were completed.
The study also pointed out that there was an increase in the number of transactions in which foreign investors bought Brazilian companies. In the first half of this year, there were 199 transactions compared to 178 in the equivalent period of 2024, an increase of almost 12%.
The same trend occurred in transactions in which Brazilian organizations acquired other companies established abroad, rising from 47 in the first months of last year to 58 this year (23%).
“In general, the M&A landscape remained stable, despite global geopolitical and fiscal issues in the domestic market. And these two types of deals sustained the number of transactions carried out in this half. On the other hand, domestic transactions involving only Brazilian investors declined, indicating that the domestic market suffered a slight downturn in the period, caused by high interest rates and fiscal discussions,” Coimbra said.
