The Brazilian subsidiary of China Gezhouba Group Co. (GGC) has acquired the rights of the construction consortium of Brazilian company Sistema Produtor São Lourenço, a public-private partnership that operates and maintains the system that will boost the drinking water supply to the city of São Paulo, for an undisclosed amount, the Brazilian press reported.

The São Lourenço production system is operated by state water and sanitation company Sabesp and the 25-year concession contract was signed in 2013 by the consortium made up of the Andrade Gutierrez and Camargo Corrêa groups, involved in the Lava Jacto operation investigations.

Construction, which began in 2014 and was completed in March of this year, required an investment of 2.2 billion reais and the work consisted of laying pipes connecting the Cachoeira do França dam in Ibiúna to a water treatment plant located some 80 kilometres away.

The acquisition is a sign of CGGC’s great potential in the South American market, where the company has billions of dollars’ worth of investment in Ecuador and Argentina, the chairman of the group, Chen Xiaohua, told Xinhua.

According to the company’s website Sistema Produtor São Lourenço is a special purpose company created in 2013 to develop the public-private partnership to operate and maintain the system of dehydration, drying and disposal of the São Lourenço Production System, as well as for the execution of the works of this enterprise, belonging to the São Paulo State Sewage Company (Sabesp). (macauhub)