Cosan to buy Exxon distribution assets in three countries

Brazil’s largest sugar and ethanol group, Cosan Industria e Comercio SA announced on October 21 that it has bought the lubricants business of ExxonMobil Corp. in Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay. The transaction represents an extension of Cosan’s 2008 acquisition of nearly all of ExxonMobil’s distribution and sales assets in Brazil. The value of the transaction was not disclosed. Cosan will continue producing Mobil brand lubricants at its Rio de Janeiro plant. The agreement will allow it to become the brand’s exclusive distributor in the three countries and increase its overall lubricant sales by 5% a year. In the April-to-June quarter, Cosan’s lubricant sales amounted to 230.1 million Brazilian reais (US$129.3 million), up 14% from a year ago. Cosan will begin operating in the three countries by the end of this year. (October 22, 2011)