Brazil’s Utility Giant Soars as Government Plans Privatization

Brazil’s troubled state-run utility Eletrobras jumped the most in almost two decades on a government proposal to privatize the company amid the country’s deep fiscal crisis.

The government could raise as much as 20 billion reais ($6.31 billion) by shedding its controlling 67 percent stake in Latin America’s largest power company, according to Deputy Energy Minister Paulo Pedrosa. The government will remain as a shareholder and maintain power to veto management decisions, the ministry said in an emailed statement.

“The state is not able to contribute to Eletrobras,” Pedrosa said. “The idea is to modernize the sector. We have the ...