Cosan buys U.K. lubricants company from Esso Petroleum

Brazilian sugar and ethanol producer Cosan announced the purchase of U.K. lubricants company Comma Oil and Chemicals, an arm of Esso Petroleum Co., which in turn is a subsidiary of oil major ExxonMobil Corp. The exact value of the deal was not disclosed, but Cosan said the deal is below US$100 million. Separate agreements will be signed to allow Comma to continue distributing products under the Mobil brand in the U.K., and to keep producing and supplying automotive chemical products to ExxonMobil affiliated companies. The sale gives Cosan access to the European and Asian lubricants market, through its first sector production unit outside Brazil. Last year, Cosan acquired ExxonMobil’s distribution business in Uruguay, Bolivia and Paraguay. Thus, all Mobil-branded lubricants distributed in the said countries are now produced at Cosan’s lubricant plant in Brazil’s southeastern Rio de Janeiro state. (March 2, 2012)