Copersucar acquires 50% of Comerc’s trading company and advances in energy sales

Copersucar, a global leader in the trading of sugar and ethanol, and Comerc Energia announced this Monday the formation of a joint venture for trading electricity in the free marketin an agreement that guarantees financial strength and access to new markets for companies.

The partnership will take place through an investment by Copersucar to acquire a 50% stake in Newcom, one of the traders of the Comerc group, which has Vibra as a partner.

The new company, which will have shared control between Copersucar and Comercwill operate independently and on an open platform model, focusing on the free energy market.

Through the joint venture, Copersucar will be able to sell energy produced from biomass from its 37 associated plants on the free market.. Sugarcane plants use production waste to generate electricity for their own industrial activities and generally sell the surplus.

With revenue of R$431 million in 2023, NewCom has 90 clients in its portfolio. With the arrival of the volume produced by the cooperative plants, NewCom doubles in size and becomes among the 10 largest independent energy traders in the country, the companies said in a statement.

“Through this partnership with Newcom, we will expand our business portfolio in a market with great opportunities, which tends to be more dynamic and competitive and which is redefining relationships between consumers and energy suppliers”, stated the president of Copersucar, Tomás Manzano.

The deal reinforces Copersucar’s focus on renewable energy sources, said the company, remembering that it also has a joint venture with Vibra Energia to sell ethanol, Evolua Etanol.

“This association will contribute to the execution of the strategy of both companies. They will continue to act independently, but will bring their skills and strengths to the JV, such as Copersucar’s scale and performance in the sugar-energy sector, and Newcom’s vast experience in electricity trading”, assesses Andre Dorf, CEO of Comerc Energy.

The transaction will be submitted for approval by the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade).