Swiss commodity trader Mercuria Energy Group and Argentine businessman Jose Luis Manzano’s Integra Capital closed a US$1.42 billion purchase on September 1 of Raizen’s Shell-branded fuel business in Argentina, including 894 service stations and the Dock Sud refinery.
The deal was signed in June. For drivers, the stations will keep operating under the Shell brand for now under a licensing arrangement, while ownership and operational control has passed entirely to the Mercuria-Manzano venture. The network supplies close to a fifth of the fuel Argentine drivers buy at the pump.
The assets include the Dock Sud refinery, which alone accounts for about 14% of the country’s total fuel output, and the 894 stations, roughly 17.9% of the national retail fuel market. The package also covers a lubricants manufacturing plant, fuel terminals in Arroyo Seco and Santa Fe, and airport fueling operations at Buenos Aires’s two main airports, Ezeiza and Aeroparque.
Raizen is a joint venture between Brazilian conglomerate Cosan and Shell that spans sugar, ethanol, fuel distribution and bioenergy across several countries. It is selling to shore up its finances at home. The company has said the deal reflects a strategy of “optimizing its asset portfolio, simplifying its operational structure and disciplined capital allocation,” and proceeds are earmarked to help fund what is described as Brazil’s largest out-of-court debt restructuring, covering roughly 65 billion reais in obligations. Raizen’s shares have fallen 68% so far this year, with leverage peaking at 5.3 times net debt to EBITDA before the restructuring push.
The buyers pair international trading muscle with local business connections. Mercuria is one of the world’s largest independent energy and commodity trading firms, while Manzano is a well-known Argentine investor with a long history in energy, media and infrastructure. Their joint vehicle, Integra Capital, now competes directly with YPF, Argentina’s dominant state-controlled energy company, and with Axion, in a downstream fuel market that has been consolidating for several years.
The sale follows a pattern seen elsewhere in Latin America, as global oil majors sell downstream retail assets to regional and local operators while keeping brand licensing revenue rather than direct ownership.