MEZ Energia is big winner of transmission lines auction
In line with market expectations, the concession auction of power transmission lines held Thursday attracted a large number of participants (51), with different profiles, and resulted in a high average discount on the maximum permitted annual revenue (RAP) of the projects. The indicator reached 55.24%, the third highest ever in events organized by the Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency (Aneel).The big surprise was the strong participation of MEZ Energia, a new company that won 5 of the 11 lots offered. Relatively unknown in the electricity sector, MEZ is backed by powerful names in civil construction: Marcos and Maurício Zarzur, son and grandson, respectively, of Ernesto Zarzur, founder of developer EZTec.
São Paulo-based MEZ was founded last year after having won in another Aneel auction its first transmission lines batch, in Bahia. Since then, the company has added three more projects to its portfolio, in Goiás and Rio Grande do Sul, through acquisitions in the secondary market. Now, it adds five more developments, in Mato Grosso do Sul, São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul.
"This auction will give the scalability we planned for the company in medium and long term," says Maurício Zarzur, CEO and founder of MEZ.
With the new assets, the volume of regulated investments in MEZ's portfolio goes from R$715 million to R$3 billion. To meet this amount, the company evaluates different sources of financing. "We have some options, one is BNDES [Brazilian Development Bank]. We are already in the process of qualifying with the bank. Or if not the capital market, today we see great demand for tax-exempt bonds."
According to the executive, the company has been preparing for some time for a growth cycle. While studying the lots that would be offered at the auction, it started to set up an operations center to optimize asset management. MEZ also increased the team to 75 people and with the new businesses may reach 125 employees.
In the future, the goal is to enter the renewable energy generation and commercialization segments. These arms are already being developed internally, but, for now, the focus is on transmission projects. "With the new projects acquired, we have a truckload of work ahead of us."
MEZ is not the first venture in the electricity sector by the Zarzurs. Their trajectory began a few years earlier, with Arteon Z. Created in 2017, Arteon was the family's "gateway" to the transmission segment, seen as the most secure and stable within the...
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