Ecopetrol Signs Deal With Minhacienda To Take Control Of Isa

Colombian petroleum giant Ecopetrol S.A. (BVC: ECOPETROL; NYSE: EC) last Wednesday signed a share purchase contract with the Colombian Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (Minhacienda) for Minhacienda’s 569,472,561 shares of Interconectado Eléctrica SA ESP, the electrical grid operator known colloquially as Isa, equivalent to 51.4% of its outstanding shares. The agreed purchase price is $25,000 Colombian pesos per share.

The Colombian government remains the controlling shareholder in Ecopetrol, and the purchase aligns with Ecopetrol’s plan to diversify into activities beyond upstream petroleum production and refining. The company said in a statement that this investment is a transformational step in the Ecopetrol Group’s energy transition on its way to decarbonization, it provides resilience against oil price volatility, and it makes Ecopetrol a leading conglomerate in energy transition in the Western Hemisphere that integrates the businesses of the hydrocarbon value chain, with energy transmission, renewable energies, infrastructure and nature-based solutions.