A total of nine transactions were recorded through September.
The number of mergers and acquisitions in Brazil’s agribusiness sector soared by 125% in the first nine months of this year compared to the same period in 2023. Nine deals were closed in the year through September, mainly in the fertilizers and sugar-ethanol segments, up from just four in the same period last year. The data comes from a quarterly study by KPMG covering 43 sectors of the Brazilian economy.
Deals in the fertilizer segment increased by 75%, with seven transactions recorded. Meanwhile, there were two transactions involving sugar and ethanol mills, whereas no deals in this segment occurred during the same period last year.
“The fertilizer and bioenergy industries once again stood out among mergers and acquisitions in Brazil’s agribusiness sector, as expected. Both are capital-intensive sectors, and the combination of high capital costs in the country and promising growth prospects for these markets has encouraged transactions,”
said Giovana Araújo, a partner at KPMG.
Ms. Araújo highlighted that mergers and acquisitions in the fertilizer segment reflect strategic positioning towards sustainable product portfolios, such as bio-inputs and organominerals, signaling a consolidated trend. In the bioenergy sector, the deals demonstrate renewed investment appetite and expansion by strong, well-established groups in the segment.
Of the deals completed during this period, five were domestic, involving Brazilian companies; two involved foreign buyers acquiring stakes in local companies; one saw Brazilian buyers acquiring a foreign-owned company based in Brazil; and another involved foreign buyers acquiring a foreign-held company in Brazil.
Notable transactions included the British company BP acquiring Bunge's 50% stake in the BP Bunge Bioenergia joint venture in Brazil in June. Additionally, in August, the private equity firm Aqua Capital took control of Solubio, a regenerative agriculture company, for R$100 million.
Earlier in the year, ICL, an Israeli minerals and specialty fertilizers company, acquired Brazil-based Nitro 1000 for $30 million. In August, Agrion secured up to $50 million in funding from the Global Fund for Coral Reefs, backed by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), while the U.S.-based Pegasus fund acquired a minority stake. Also in August, Agrogalaxy, currently undergoing judicial recovery, increased its stake in Agrocat, an agricultural input company, from 80% to 90%.
The KPMG report revealed that 1,196 mergers and acquisitions were completed across all sectors of the Brazilian economy from January to September this year, marking a 5% increase from the 1,142 transactions recorded in the same period in 2023.
The most active sectors were information technology, with 355 transactions, followed by internet companies (199) and financial institutions (68). Other sectors with significant activity included energy (51 transactions), business services (41), real estate (39), food, beverages, and tobacco (37), telecommunications and media (29), education (24), and chemicals and pharmaceuticals (23).
Source: Valor International