Petrobras offers USD 1.751bn for 40% in ETH Bioenergia - report

(ADPnews) - Dec 13, 2010 - Brazil's federal oil and gas giant Petrobras (SAO:PETR3; NYSE:PBR) has made a BRL 3 billion (USD 1.751bn/EUR 1.324bn) offer for 40% in ETH Bioenergia, the biofuel producing arm of Brazilian industrial conglomerate Odebrecht, local daily Folha reported on Friday.
Petrobras' interest in the stake is in line with its efforts to be the leader in the ethanol segment amid the growing influence of foreign companies on the industry.
With the money of Petrobras, ETH which is currently the world's second biggest ethanol producer may become number one, a position currently occupied by Brazilian Cosan (SAO:CSAN3), which has Royal Dutch Shell plc (AMS:RDSA, LON:RDSA) as shareholder.
This is not the first time that Petrobras partners with Odebrecht. The two companies have already created a giant in the petrochemical sector, with the merger of petrochemical companies Braskem and Quattor. They also teamed up for the production of "green" plastics and participate together in a giant ethanol pipeline project.
ETH plans to invest BRL 3.5 billion in expansion by 2012, when the company's nine plants will be operating.
(BRL 1.0 = USD 0.584/EUR 0.441)

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