Cosan, Shell conclude talks on new joint venture company

Cosan Industria e Comercio SA, the Brazilian sugar and ethanol company, and Royal Dutch Shell PLC, have concluded negotiating details of the formal structure of their joint venture ethanol company Raizen, which will be formally created by the end of the first half of this year. According to the agreement, which is still subject to review by Cade, Brazil’s anti-trust regulator, Cosan’s retail sugar business will remain separate from Raizen. Raizen, which was created last year to produce ethanol and sell it to Raizen’s more than 4,500 service stations in Brazil, is expected to boost ethanol production from the current 2.2 billion liters to five billion liters a year over the next five years, according to Chief Executive Vasco Dias. (April 7,2011)