People walk as a bus passes a Shell gas station in Buenos Aires, Argentina, (Photo : REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci)
Brazilian energy firm Raizen, a joint venture between Cosan SA and Royal Dutch Shell PLC, has chosen four investment banks to manage its initial public offering, expected to be one of the largest this year, raising up to 13 billion reais ($2.25 billion), four people familiar with the matter said on Monday.
Raizen has picked Banco BTG Pactual SA, Bank of America, Citi and Credit Suisse AG to be the main banks in the transaction, and is expected to add more to the syndicate this week, the sources added, asking for anonymity to disclose private talks.
Raizen, Citi and Credit Suisse declined to comment on the matter. BTG and BofA did not immediately responded to a Reuters request for comments.
Raizen, the world's largest sugar maker, also controls a large fuel distribution network and is Brazil's fourth largest company by revenue, behind state-controlled oil producer Petroleo Brasileiro SA, known as Petrobras, iron ore miner Vale SA and meatpacker JBS SA.
Raizen is expected to be listed on Brazil's stock exchange B3, one of the sources said, and is aiming to conclude the transaction by June or July.
Cosan, an energy group, disclosed earlier this month that its joint venture with Shell was being prepared for a listing ahead of planned flotation of two other companies it controls as it seeks to raise capital and finance growth.
The joint venture recently acquired Biosev SA, another sugar and ethanol company, from Louis Dreyfus in a cash-and-stock deal.
As part of the deal, Biosev shareholders will receive 3.5% of Raizen preferred shares, plus 1.49% of redeemable shares.
One of the sources said Raizen may be valued at up to 100 billion reais ($17.3 billion).
Raizen is one of the contenders for the refineries Petrobras has put for sale. It placed a bid for the REPAR refinery, in the southern state of Parana, but the process was cancelled and Petrobras is expected to relaunch it.
($1 = 5.7850 reais)
