Brazil's Fluxus exits process to buy Brava onshore assets

Adds background, share reaction in paragraphs 3-8

SAO PAULO, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Brazilian oil and gas company Fluxus, owned by conglomerate J&F, has decided not to move forward with a bid to buy onshore assets owned by Brava Energia BRAV3.SA, it said in a statement on Friday.

Fluxus said it was invited to participate in the second round of the sale process but decided not to go through with it after a preliminary analysis, driving shares in Brava Energia lower.

Reuters reported earlier this month, citing sources familiar with the matter, that Fluxus had presented a non-binding offer for the onshore assets as part of an expansion strategy, but the interest was contingent on further analysis.

Sources said at the time that Brava, formed from a merger between 3R Petroleum and Enauta last year, had received five non-binding proposals for the assets, which were valued at about $2 billion.

Brava last week said its board of directors had deliberated on the bidders qualified to remain in the process and they would receive letters with guidelines for carrying out due diligence and making binding offers.

"Fluxus was invited to participate in the competitive process for certain Brava Energia onshore assets and, subsequently, to proceed to the second round," the J&F-owned company said in a statement.

"However, after preliminary analyses, Fluxus decided not to continue with the process."

Sao Paulo-traded shares of Brava, which rose as much as 6.2% earlier on Friday, pared gains following the Fluxus statement and were last up 2%