Petrobras sells ethanol stake to sugar maker Tereos

Petrobras Biocombustível has announced an agreement to sell its shares in Guarani, a Brazilian sugar and ethanol producer, to Tereos Participations, an arm of French group Tereos, for $202 million (€192m).

According to Petrobras Biocombustível, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Brazil-based oil company Petrobras, Guarani is the third largest sugar producer in Brazil. It operates eight production facilities, including seven in Brazil and one in Africa.

Tereos, a partner of Petrobras Biocombustível in Brazil, is the third largest sugar producer in the world. For the 2016/17 season, Guarani produced 1.6 million tonnes of sugar from sugar cane production close to 20 million tonnes. It also produced about 630 million litres of ethanol and commercialised more than 1GWh of bio-electricity to the grid.

Petrobras first announced it was beginning negotiations with Tereos in October regarding the sale of its 45.9% interest in Guarani. 

Guarani has seven sugar and ethanol facilities are located in Andrade, Cruz Alta, São Jose, Severinia, Mandu, Tanabi and Vertente and has two refineries in Cruz Alta and Andrade.

Tereos CEO Alexis Duval said: "This transaction follows Petrobras’ announcement to refocus on its core business of oil and natural gas exploration and production.

“For Tereos, this acquisition is an opportunity to strengthen its foothold in Brazil, the number one sugar-producing country in the world.”

The transaction is related to Petrobras’ plan, announced in 2016, to withdraw from biofuel production and several other industrial segments, allowing the company to focus on oil and gas.