Brussels, 04/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 4 January, the European Commission cleared the creation of a joint venture between Shell Brazil Holding B.V., the Brazilian subsidiary of the oil and petrochemicals group Shell (UK), and Cosan S.A. Indústria e Comércio (Brazil), the leading world producer of ethanol and sugar, which is also active in the cogeneration of electricity using sugar cane, fuel distribution and in the production and distribution of lubricants in Brazil.
The new joint venture, with an estimated annual turnover of $21 billion, would be active in all these fields, as well as in the development and licensing of certain ethanol technologies. In Brazil, it would supply, distribute and sell transportation fuel products, and carry out the production and sale of cogeneration power at the sugar and ethanol facilities of the joint venture.
The Commission has cleared the merger, given that the new venture, valued at €8.6 billion equivalent, will be facing a considerable number of other suppliers, and given the moderate market shares of both the joint venture and Shell on the upstream and the downstream markets. It would therefore not raise competition concerns. The transaction, concluded last August, was notified to the Commission on 18 November 2010. (F.G./transl.jl)