ADM RaSell Brazilian sugar ethanol operation

Business Wire

CHICAGO - Archer Daniels Midland Co. said it will sell its sugar cane ethanol operations in Limeira do Oeste, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, to JFLim Participações S.A.

Financial terms of the sale were not announced. The transaction includes a sugar cane plantation and an ethanol distillery, which is capable of crushing up to 1.5 million tons of sugar cane and producing 37,000 gallons of ethanol per year. About 650 employees work in the plantation and plant.

The sale, which is subject to regulatory review, is expected to close in the company's second quarter.

"We regularly review our asset portfolio to determine how best to maximize shareholder returns, and in this case, we have determined that our sugar cane ethanol operations in Brazil are unlikely to meet our long-term returns objectives," said Chris Cuddy, president of ADM's corn processing business unit. "As our sole sugar cane ethanol operation in Brazil, this asset is too small for ADM to compete effectively in a challenging ethanol environment."

ADM is one of the largest agribusiness companies in Brazil. With about 3,900 employees, the company processes soybeans in five facilities and sunflower at another, and markets the bottled oil brands Concordia, Corcovado and Vitaliv. The company also operates the largest biodiesel plant in Brazil, and more than 40 elevators across the country.