Louis Dreyfus aims to acquire Santelisa Vale in Brazil; two majors will have combined 40 million ton cane crush capacity

In Brazil, Louis Dreyfus announced that it will acquire Santelisa Vale, one of Brazil’s premier sugar and ethanol groups, as soon as Santelisa restructures it $1.3 billion debt. Louis Dreyfus management said that the proposed deal will close by early July.

Santelisa Vale has five mills with a capacity of 20 million tonnes of cane, similar to the capacity at Louis Dreyfus’ group of eight ethanol plants. Louis Dreyfus did not reveal the acquisition.

The Biagi family, Santelista’s largest shareholders, are expected to retain a minority stake but BNDES and Goldman Sachs are expected to bow out with the deal.

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