Brazilian energy company Raízen – a joint venture between oil giant Royal Dutch Shell and energy company Cosan – and Abu Dhabi investment firm Mubadala are in the final round to acquire Brazilian ethanol joint venture BP Bunge Bioenergia, Reuters reported a source as saying.
Shareholders British multinational oil and gas company BP and US agribusiness giant Bunge had opted to negotiate with both bidders in a second phase as there was little difference between their proposals, the source was quoted as saying on 10 August.
Although the deal was in its final stages, there was no clear deadline for reaching an agreement or any guarantee that a deal would be signed, according to the 11 August report.
At the time of the report, BP and Raízen had declined to comment, while Mubadala had not immediately responded.
Bunge said it continued “to assess options to exit our participation in our sugar and bioenergy joint venture”, the report said.
Brazilian newspaper Valor Econômico had valued BP Bunge Bioenergia’s assets at around US$1.96bn in a 9 August report, Reuters wrote.
The BP Bunge Bioenergia joint venture, comprising the management of 11 plants with a crushing capacity of 33M tonnes/year of sugarcane, was first announced by BP and Bunge in 2019.
If Mubadala’s bid was successful, it would be the company’s first investment in ethanol in Brazil, Reuters wrote, while if Raízen’s bid was accepted it would further consolidate its position as a leading ethanol producer in the country.
