Partner at Vale, Mitsui dismisses gas director after setback – 01/20/2024 – Panel SA

The Japanese company Mitsui, a partner of Cosan in several gas companies and Vale, fired, this Friday (19), the two main executives in the area, Rogério Leite and Anderson Bastos.

In the market, rumors are that the layoffs are due to changes at Mitsui in relation to its investment plans in the gas sector and that this change could affect the succession in command of Vale, a mining company that has Cosan and Mitsui as partners.

The dismissal of the executives was announced by Tadaharu Shiroyama, CEO of Mitsui Gás. In the conversation, he limited himself to saying that it was a “restructuring”. This is what Rogério Leite confirmed to Panel SA.

To Mitsui’s colleagues, the former director sent the following message: “Gentlemen, good afternoon! You will soon find out, but this morning Anderson and I were dismissed from the Mitsui group. We were not given any further explanations other than the usual who understood that it was time for change.”

In addition to being a partner in Commit, the new name of Gaspetro (which is controlled by Cosan), Mitsui has around 41% of shares in gas concessionaires in Sergipe, Alagoas, Pernambuco and Ceará.

For the purchase of Gaspetro to be approved by Cade (Administrative Council for Economic Defense), one of the conditions imposed was the sale of control of these distributors. Mitsui has preference.

However, after the announcement that they would take charge of these companies, at least two states (CE and PE) approved laws preventing foreigners from taking charge of concessionaires. This prevents Mitsui from exercising its preference.

Butter Effect

This change occurs at a time when President Lula is trying to appoint Guido Mantega, former Minister of Finance, to the presidency of Vale to replace Eduardo Bartolomeo, who is seeking reappointment to the position.

Cosan and Mitsui have board seats. People who participate in the conversations say that Cosan, owned by Rubens Ometto, defends Luis Henrique Guimarães, current advisor at Vale. Mitsui has not yet said whether she intends to support him or nominate a name of her own.

With Diego Felix

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