Name change announced for Brazil's GraalBio

Brazilian chemicals and biofuels company GraalBio has changed its name to GranBio, to avoid confusion with a similarly named food and fuels retailer.
GranBio is chaired by Bernardo Gradin, former chief executive officer of petrochemical company Braskem. He is a member of the Gradin family, the owner of a significant stake in construction giant Odebrecht, which in turn is the main shareholder in Braskem.
Earlier this year, BNDESPar, the equity investor arm of Brazil’s national development bank BNDES, acquired a 15% stake in GranBio.
BNDESPar paid 600 million reais (US$297 million) for the stake in the company, making the total equity of the company 4 billion reais (US$1.96 billion).
By 2020, GranBio aims to produce 1 billion liters a year of second-generation ethanol, produced from non-food sources such as sugarcane bagasse and straw. It will also produce biochemicals from the feedstock.
According to reports, the company’s first ethanol plant will start operating in early 2014, in Alagoas in northeastern Brazil, and will produce 82 million liters a year.
(April 2, 2013)