SAO PAULO/RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Australia's Macquarie Group is leaving one of the groups that will present a new bid for a gas pipeline network put on sale by Brazil's state-controlled oil company Petrobras, three sources with knowledge of the matter said on Monday.
The other members of the group, sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte Ltd and Brazilian investment firms Itausa Investimentos Itau SA and Cambuhy Investmentos SA, will present a new bid for the pipeline network by the April 2 deadline, the sources said.
The sale of TAG, as the pipeline network is known, is expected to be the largest divestment in Petroleo Brasileiro SA asset sale program. The oil company expects to fetch around $8 billion.
It is unclear whether the GIC group will find a replacement for Macquarie before the new bid round.
EIG Partners and Mubadala Investment Company are also planning to bid, according to the sources. The last round of bidding is the final phase of the sale process, after the discussion of a sale contract with France's Engie SA, which was the winner of the first phase.
Macquarie declined to comment. Bloomberg reported on Friday that Macquarie was leaving the group.
(Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer, Carolina Mandl and Gram Slattery; Editing by Susan Thomas)
