Odebrecht Negotiating Acquisition of Ethanol Plant in Brazil

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--ETH Bioenergia S.A., a subsidiary of Odebrecht, is negotiating the purchase of the Eldorado plant in Rio Brilhante, Mato Grosso do Sul State, in Brazil. The plant is owned by the Benedito Coutinho family and began operation in 2005. In the 2007-08 harvest, the plant processed about 1.8 million tons of sugar. The plant's current capacity is 2.2 million tons.

The plant produces sugar, alcohol and cogenerates energy from sugar cane bagasse. The plant is being negotiated for $240 million, which is the equivalent of $108 per processed sugar ton. The due diligence should take place in the next few days; ETH Company hired PricewaterhouseCoopers to lead the due diligence.

Eldorado has a project to increase capacity to 4.8 million tons for the 2010-11 harvest. The unit will expand the plantation area in more than 12,000 hectares in 2009 to bring the total to 34,000 hectares. This will give the plant the possibility to increase its production capacity 3 million tons in the 2010-11 harvest.

After acquiring Eldorado, ETH will begin the 2008-09 harvest with two plants in operation. The company has seven greenfields under construction and a plant in operation. Odebrecht's biggest investments are focused in west central Brazil. In 2007, ETH Bioenergia invested $1 billion to build three plants in Goias. For more information, view related October 8, 2007, article - Odebrecht to Invest $1.05 Billion in Three Ethanol Plants in Brazil's Goias.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading marketing information services company for the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy-related markets throughout the world. Celebrating its 25th anniversary, IIR provides accurate and timely intelligence featuring plant and project information databases, focused market databases, industry forecasting, key industry contacts, industry and territorial map products, direct marketing services and applications, and daily industry news.