Brazilian energy company Companhia Energética de Minas Gerais S.A. (CEMIG) has sold its stake in local data center firm Ativas to the majority owner, Chilean IT company Sonda.

CEMIG recently announced it had executed a Share Purchase Agreement for the disposal of 19.6 percent of its stake in Ativas Data Center S.A.

The company said the transaction totaled R$60.02 million (US$11.5m) and will be settled by offsetting CEMIG's debt obligations with Sonda, of which R$57.58 million (US$11.05m) refers to loans and R$2.44 million (US$468,000) to indemnification.

“The transaction reinforces the company's strategy regarding the divestment of CEMIG's minority stake to create value by investing in projects in the Minas Gerais State,” CEMIG said in a statement.

Founded in 1952, CEMIG owns around 6,000MW of generation capacity across Brazil and Chile, much of it hydroelectric.

Sonda acquired the majority of Brazilian data center firm Ativas for $35 million in 2016, totaling around 60 percent at the time. The company operates a ​​6,000 sqm (64,600 sq ft) data center in Belo Horizonte in the state of Minas Gerais which opened in 2011 and offers 2.5MW of capacity.

The move may be a prelude to Sonda selling off the data center entirely. Last month company said it had tapped Santander Corporate and Investment Banking to help it evaluate strategic alternatives for its data center business.

Alternatives could include a strategic association, a joint business management or joint venture, as well as partial or total sale of its data center assets in Chile, Colombia, and Brazil.

Founded in 1974 in association with Chilean energy and forestry company Copec, Sonda provides IT consultancy and services. In Chile, Sonda has facilties in Teatinos, Quilicura, and Kudos. The company’s first data center was opened in 1975.

The Tier IV-certified Kudos facility is the newest, launching in 2020. At full build-out, the facility will offer 4,000 sqm (43,050 sq ft) across four phases and 12MW of capacity. The Quilicura data center opened in 2013 and reportedly offers 3.3MW in a 6,500 sqm (70,000 sq ft) building. The company’s two Colombian data centers in Bogota opened in 2018 and 2019.