Raízen
Brazilian energy company producing sugarcane ethanol, sugar, bioelectricity and fuels while operating Shell-branded retail and mobility businesses.
Last updated August 21, 2026
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Overview
Raízen is a Brazilian integrated energy and sugarcane-processing company created through the combination of assets contributed by Cosan and Royal Dutch Shell in Brazil. Its business links agricultural production, industrial processing, energy generation, fuel distribution and consumer retail. The company is headquartered in São Paulo and operates principally in Brazil and Argentina. The company’s industrial platform is built around sugarcane. It processes cane into hydrous and anhydrous ethanol, crystal and other sugar products, and electricity generated from bagasse, the fibrous residue left after extraction. This integrated model allows Raízen to use multiple outputs from the same agricultural and industrial system and to participate in both food and energy markets. It also trades and distributes fuels to business customers and consumers, including transportation, industrial and other commercial users. Raízen’s downstream presence includes more than 7,000 Shell-branded service stations in Brazil and Argentina, together with more than 1,000 convenience stores. The Shell brand is used under licensing and commercial arrangements associated with the company’s fuel-distribution activities. In addition to conventional fuels, the network provides a retail platform for convenience products and mobility-related services. The company expanded its sugar, ethanol and bioenergy platform through acquisitions and consolidation. Its combination with Biosev increased the number of ethanol, sugar and bioenergy plants associated with the group and strengthened its agricultural and industrial scale. The reference material describes a network of 35 such plants, annual cane-crushing capacity of approximately 105 million tonnes and installed generation capacity of about 3,000 megawatts from sugarcane biomass. These figures are operational descriptions rather than permanent corporate characteristics and may change over time. Raízen also positions itself around lower-carbon energy and the use of renewable feedstocks. Sugarcane ethanol is its principal biofuel, while bagasse-based power provides a source of renewable electricity. The company has pursued sustainability certification for affiliated sugarcane production under the Bonsucro standard and has presented the sugarcane platform as a basis for expanding renewable fuels and other products. Its retail strategy broadened in 2019 when Raízen Conveniências entered a joint venture with Mexican company FEMSA. The arrangement gave FEMSA a 50% stake in the convenience-store business and created a route for the Oxxo chain to expand into Brazil. Raízen subsequently accessed public equity markets in Brazil: it registered an initial public offering with the Brazilian securities regulator in 2021 and raised approximately US$1.3 billion in August of that year, according to the cited reference material. Raízen’s identity therefore combines an industrial sugar-and-energy producer with a large fuel-trading, service-station and convenience-retail platform. Its core competitive logic is vertical integration from cane cultivation and processing through renewable energy production and fuel distribution, while its Shell relationship gives the downstream business a widely recognized international retail brand.
History
Raízen emerged from the restructuring of the Brazilian sugar, ethanol and fuel businesses associated with Cosan and Royal Dutch Shell. The joint venture was formed around 2010, with the objective of combining Cosan’s Brazilian sugarcane, ethanol and fuel assets with Shell’s downstream fuel-marketing presence and international commercial capabilities. The resulting company was named Raízen, a name associated with the combination of roots and energy. From its beginning, Raízen was designed as an integrated platform rather than a single-product producer. At the upstream end, its operations included sugarcane sourcing, agricultural relationships and industrial mills. These assets produced ethanol and sugar while also generating electricity from bagasse. At the downstream end, the company supplied fuels to business customers and operated a large network of Shell-branded service stations in Brazil and Argentina. This structure gave Raízen exposure to agricultural commodities, renewable fuels, electricity, fuel distribution and retail. The company’s industrial scale developed through a combination of inherited assets and acquisitions. The Biosev combination was an important expansion of the sugar, ethanol and bioenergy portfolio. Following that integration, the reference material describes Raízen as having 35 ethanol, sugar and bioenergy plants, annual sugarcane-crushing capacity of approximately 105 million tonnes and around 3,000 megawatts of installed electricity-generation capacity based on sugarcane biomass. The exact configuration of facilities can change as assets are acquired, divested or reorganized. Raízen also expanded its role as a fuel trader and distributor. Its activities covered both business-to-business customers, particularly in transportation and industry, and business-to-consumer sales through Shell-branded stations. The cited description reports fuel trading of approximately 31 billion litres per year and a retail network exceeding 7,000 stations, supported by more than 1,000 convenience stores. These businesses made the company one of Brazil’s largest energy groups by revenue and connected its renewable-production base with a broad consumer-facing distribution system. Sustainability became an important part of the company’s strategic narrative. Raízen sought to certify a large area of affiliated sugarcane production under the Bonsucro standard, reflecting the company’s effort to document environmental and social practices in its supply chain. Its sugarcane model also supported renewable electricity generation and the production of ethanol as a transport fuel with a lower-carbon profile than conventional fossil fuels, although the environmental performance of biofuels depends on farming, land-use and processing practices. In 2019, Raízen’s convenience-retail division entered a joint venture with FEMSA. FEMSA acquired half of Raízen Conveniências, and the relationship provided a platform for bringing the Oxxo convenience-store format to Brazil. This broadened Raízen’s downstream proposition beyond fuel and linked its station network to a larger food, beverage and convenience-retail strategy. Raízen moved toward public ownership in 2021. It registered an IPO with Brazil’s securities regulator and completed the offering in August, raising approximately US$1.3 billion according to the cited reference. The listing gave the company access to public-market capital while preserving its identity as an integrated energy and agricultural-processing group. Today, Raízen’s business remains centered on the connection between sugarcane, renewable fuels, sugar, biomass power, fuel trading and Shell-branded mobility retail.
- 2021
IPO registration
[1]Raízen registers an initial public offering with Brazil’s securities regulator.
- 2021
Public offering completed
[1]Raízen raises approximately US$1.3 billion in its August public offering and becomes listed in Brazil.
- 2019
FEMSA joins the convenience-retail business
[1]FEMSA agrees to acquire 50% of Raízen Conveniências, supporting the expansion of the Oxxo convenience-store format in Brazil.
- 2010
Formation of Raízen
[1]Cosan and Royal Dutch Shell combine relevant Brazilian sugar, ethanol and fuel assets to create the Raízen joint venture.
Products and positioning
An integrated Brazilian renewable-energy, sugar and fuel-distribution company built around sugarcane processing and supported by Shell-branded downstream infrastructure.
Biofuel
Sugarcane ethanol
Raízen produces hydrous and anhydrous ethanol from sugarcane. Hydrous ethanol is used directly in compatible vehicle systems, while anhydrous ethanol is blended with gasoline. Ethanol is a central part of the company’s integrated model because it uses the same sugarcane platform that also produces sugar and bagasse-based electricity.
Food and agricultural commodity
Sugar
Sugar is produced alongside ethanol in Raízen’s sugarcane mills. The company’s integrated production system allows it to adjust the use of cane and manage the balance between sugar and ethanol according to market conditions, industrial capacity and commercial requirements.
Bioenergy
Bagasse-based electricity
Raízen burns or otherwise uses bagasse, the fibrous residue from sugarcane processing, to generate steam and electricity. This supports mill operations and can provide surplus renewable power for sale. The reference material describes approximately 3,000 megawatts of installed generation capacity across the group’s platform.
Fuel distribution
Fuel distribution and trading
The company trades and distributes fuels to business customers in sectors such as transportation and industry, as well as to consumers through a large Shell-branded service-station network. This downstream activity complements Raízen’s production of renewable fuels and gives it a broad route to market.
Mobility retail
Shell-branded service stations
Raízen operates more than 7,000 Shell-branded fuel stations across Brazil and Argentina under its commercial relationship with Shell. The network sells fuels and provides the main consumer-facing channel for the company’s downstream energy business.
Convenience retail · 2019
Convenience retail
Raízen’s convenience operations include more than 1,000 stores associated with its fuel-station network. Since the FEMSA joint venture, the business has also served as a platform for the expansion of the Oxxo convenience-store format in Brazil.
Marketing campaigns
- Bonsucro sugarcane certification initiative
Brazil
Raízen pursued Bonsucro certification for nearly one million hectares of affiliated sugarcane production, linking its supply chain to an internationally recognized sustainability standard.
Outcome. The reference material describes a target of certification for just under one million hectares by 2020; a verified final result is not specified.
Brand decisions
2021
Pursue and complete an IPOOtherBackground
Raízen sought public-market capital to support its integrated energy and sugarcane business.
Action taken
The company registered with Brazil’s securities regulator and completed a public offering in August 2021.
Aftermath
Raízen became a publicly listed Brazilian company and raised approximately US$1.3 billion.
IPO proceeds. Approximately US$1.3 billion raised (August 2021)
2019
Create the Raízen Conveniências and FEMSA joint ventureM&ABackground
Raízen wanted to develop its convenience-retail platform, while FEMSA sought to bring its Oxxo format into Brazil.
Action taken
FEMSA acquired a 50% interest in Raízen Conveniências.
Aftermath
The arrangement created a platform for Oxxo’s Brazilian expansion and broadened Raízen’s retail proposition beyond fuel.
2010
Combine Cosan and Shell Brazilian assetsM&ABackground
Cosan and Royal Dutch Shell sought to combine sugarcane processing, ethanol and sugar assets with fuel distribution and marketing capabilities.
Action taken
They formed Raízen as a joint venture containing the relevant contributed businesses.
Aftermath
The transaction created an integrated sugar, renewable-energy and fuel-distribution group operating in Brazil and Argentina.
- Integrate Biosev assetsM&A
Background
Raízen pursued greater scale in sugar, ethanol and bioenergy production through the combination with Biosev.
Action taken
Biosev assets were integrated into Raízen’s industrial and agricultural platform.
Aftermath
The combined group was described as having 35 ethanol, sugar and bioenergy plants and substantially greater cane-crushing capacity.
Recent events
Raízen agrees to acquire 50% of Barcos & Rodados[3]
Reported:
Raízen reached an agreement to acquire 50% of Paraguayan fuel retailer Barcos & Rodados for $130 million. Under the agreement, the acquired stations will progressively switch to the Shell brand, which Barcos & Rodados will be able to use.
Raízen sublicensed Shell branding to Barcos y Rodados[4]
Reported:
Under its agreement with Barcos y Rodados, Raízen will sublicense its right to use the Shell brand to B&R, whose service stations will operate under that brand.
Raízen acquired a 50% stake in Barcos y Rodados[4]
Reported:
Raízen announced that it had acquired a 50% stake in Barcos y Rodados, Paraguay’s largest fuel distributor, for US$130 million. The agreement gives Raízen the right to appoint officers and a majority of the board.
Raízen to acquire Shell's Brazilian lubricants business[5]
Reported:
Raízen agreed to acquire Shell's entire lubricants business in Brazil, including a blending plant and a terminal in Rio de Janeiro state. The transaction is subject to Cade approval and other conditions.
Sources5 sources
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