Raízen agreed to sell its Caarapó sugar and ethanol mill to Adecoagro for about $148 million (760 million reais), expanding the buyer’s sugarcane footprint in Brazil’s Mato Grosso do Sul state.
The acquisition includes the industrial plant, company-grown sugarcane and contracts with third-party suppliers representing 3.5 million metric tons of cane crushed in the 2025/26 season. The purchase price will be paid in cash when the transaction closes, which is expected on Oct. 1.
The Caarapó facility produces sugar, hydrous and anhydrous ethanol and renewable power. It is about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Adecoagro’s Angélica and Ivinhema mills.
Adecoagro plans to integrate the mill into its regional cluster, allowing the company to process additional cane, including surplus feedstock from its existing operations, Renato Junqueira, the company’s vice president for sugar, ethanol and energy, said in a statement.
The company also plans to introduce its low-cost production model and increase the mill’s crush through what Junqueira described as controlled additional investment.
Raízen said the divestment is part of a strategy to optimize its asset portfolio, simplify operations and improve returns from its agricultural and industrial businesses.
Following the sale, Raízen will operate 23 mills with combined installed capacity to crush 69 million metric tons of sugarcane per season.
The transaction requires approval from Cade, Brazil’s antitrust regulator.
More Assets May Be Sold
Raízen Chief Executive Officer Nelson Gomes said during the company’s late-June earnings call that the group intended to dispose of additional sugar and ethanol assets.
Potential sales could involve mills with combined crush capacity of 10 million to 15 million metric tons, he said.
“We sold or decommissioned almost 20 million metric tons of crush capacity in the last season,” Gomes said. “We will continue on this path.”
This story was translated with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by The AgriBiz editorial staff.
