São Paulo – This Monday (5th), the Brazilian sugar and ethanol company Copersucar and the United States’ Eco-Energy announced the internationalization of the former’s ethanol business through the acquisition of a controlling stake in the latter. As a result, the Brazilian company will enter the United States market.
Copersucar is Brazil’s leading seller of sugar and ethanol, and Eco-Energy is one of the leading biofuel trading companies in the USA, according to a statement released by the two companies. The two countries are also the largest producers and consumers of ethanol in the world.
The two companies combined are capable of supplying 10 billion litres of ethanol per year, according to the statement. The USA-based company has a 9% share of the USA ethanol market, and sells the equivalent of US$ 3 billion per year.
The Brazilian company is estimates that in the 2012-2013 crop, it will sell 4.8 billion litres of ethanol and 8.7 million tonnes of sugar, amounting to US$ 7.5 billion in revenues. The company concentrates the output of 48 partner plants, and 50 non-partner ones. According to the statement, that volume is equivalent to 24% of ethanol and sugar production in Mid-South Brazil, the country’s main producing region. Last year, ethanol accounted for 41% of Copersucar’s overall revenues.
“"With this partnership, Copersucar becomes a truly global company in the biofuel market, expanding the scale of its operations to the two main ethanol markets in the world, which are the United States and Brazil, both in production and consumption volume,” said the Copersucar Board of Directors chairman Luís Roberto Pogetti, according to the statement.
The deal is still pending approval from the United States regulatory agencies. Figures pertaining to the deal have not been disclosed.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
