By Rachel Gamarski and Cristiane Lucchesi | Updated on Oct 06, 2026 at 05:16 PM
Brazil conglomerate Cosan SA is reassessing plans to sell assets after it cut debt by half in the past year and as market conditions improved in Brazil on bets that opposition candidate Flávio Bolsonaro will be elected president, according to people familiar with the matter.
Brazilian assets rallied this week following a first round in a presidential race that showed Bolsonaro surprisingly ahead of incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro is seen by investors and some businessmen as a name more prone to tackle fiscal concerns that would eventually allow interest rates to decline.
Cosan, whose businesses sprawl into sugar, lubricants, fuel distribution, rail transportation and natural gas home supply, has been seeking ways to improve its leverage as it grappled with high interest rates in Latin America’s largest economy. Over the past year, it has taken a series of steps to strengthen its balance sheet, including selling farmland and taking its gas unit, Compass Gas e Energia SA, public.
As market players quickly price in a victory for Bolsonaro in an Oct. 25 runoff, the company sees more room to renegotiate asset sales initially planned, one of the people said, asking not to be identified discussing information that isn’t public. One of the deals that is now under review is the potential sale of part of its stake in rail operator Rumo SA, the people said.
Cosan didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
Brazil’s equity benchmark Ibovespa is up 6.9% while the country’s currency strengthened 4.8% against the US dollar this week as investors expect the nation will have a better chance of tackling its ballooning deficit under Bolsonaro, even though he is yet to present an economic plan for that. Cosan shares jumped 24% this week, the third-biggest gains among 76 shares comprising the Ibovespa.
The sentiment shift post-first round is expected to help the company set more favorable terms for the deals now on the table, one of the people said. Some of the offers it received for its Rumo stake implied a valuation about 30% below the company’s current market price, the person added.
Cosan said in June that it had hired Banco BTG Pactual SA as financial adviser to evaluate potential alternatives involving its stake in Rumo.
Other asset sales being reviewed include an additional share offering by Compass, and the sale of a stake in lubricant maker Moove, formerly known as Cosan Lubrificantes e Especialidades SA, the person said. A Moove transaction could take place through either the public or private markets, the people said.
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The asset-sales reassessment also reflects an improvement in Cosan’s financial position following a 10 billion real ($2 billion) capital injection backed by BTG Pactual Holding and Perfin Infra Fund late last year.
With the holding-company debt significantly lower, Cosan is under less pressure to announce another divestment this year and can be more selective about the timing and valuation of any transaction, one person said. The conglomerate has also reduced costs, including through the layoff of about 100 posts, according to the person.