BP, Bunge to sell Brazil sugar and ethanol venture – report

Adds Bunge statement, JPMorgan declining to comment

SAO PAULO, Aug 9 (Reuters) – British oil major BP BP.L and U.S. commodities trader Bunge Ltd BG.N have put their Brazilian sugar and ethanol joint venture BP Bunge Bioenergia up for sale, newspaper Valor Economico reported on Tuesday.

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala MUDEV.UL and Brazilian energy company Raizen SA RAIZ4.SA – a joint venture of Shell SHEL.L and Cosan SA CSAN3.SA – were among those interested to buy the company, said the report, citing sources familiar with the matter.

JPMorgan will advise BP Bunge on the deal, Valor said, adding that the company’s assets were valued at between 9 billion and 10 billion reais ($1.96 billion).

In a statement sent to Reuters, Bunge reiterated it was assessing options to exit its participation in the sugar and bioenergy joint venture, as previously disclosed by the company, but did not provide details on how that could happen.

“While we are pleased with how the business is performing, it is not core to our overall business strategy,” Bunge said.

BP, Raizen and JPMorgan declined to comment, while Mubadala did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

BP and Bunge’s deal to create the 50-50 joint venture, managing 11 plants with a total capacity to crush 32 million tonnes of sugarcane per year, was first announced in 2019.

($1 = 5.1110 reais)

(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Bernadette Baum)

((Gabriel.Araujo2@thomsonreuters.com; +55 11 5644 7745;))

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.