Royal Dutch Shell Plc has gained approval from Brazil’s antitrust regulatory authority for the acquisition of an airline-fuel business from Cosan SA Industria & Comercio, Bloomberg reported. The Hague-based company is seeking to acquire an airline- fuel business from Cosan Industria & Comercio.

Shell will be required to sell physical assets of Jacta Participacoes SA before full approval is granted, ruled Friday in a meeting in Brasilia. Shell bought Jacta Participacoes SA from Barra Bonita, Brazil-based Cosan in 2009.

In a separate accord, Cosan and The Hague-based Shell agreed in August to combine sugar, ethanol and fuel distribution assets in Brazil. Shell agreed to contribute as much as $1.95 billion of cash and assets including 2,740 service stations, while Cosan put up 23 cane-crushing mills, 1,730 gas stations and other assets.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is a global oil and gas company, with its registered office at the Shell Centre in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest energy company and the second-largest company in the world measured by revenues and is one of the six oil and gas "supermajors".

Shell is vertically-integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading. It also has major renewable energy activities, including in biofuels, hydrogen, solar and wind power.

It has operations in over 90 countries, produces around 3.1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day and has 44,000 service stations worldwide. Shell Oil Company, its subsidiary in the United States, is one of its largest businesses.

Brazil's publicly traded holding company Cosan engages in the production of ethanol, sugar, biofuels and electric power, and the distribution of liquid fuels and lubricants. Main products include hydrated ethyl alcohol fuel, anhydrous alcohol, gasoline, and diesel. Cosan operates 23 plants, two refineries, two terminal ports, 40 distribution terminals, over 1,700 service stations, and a lubricant factory located in Ilha do Governador (Rio de Janeiro).

It has a total installed capacity of 295MW and burns sugar cane bagasse to generate power. The company expects to increase installed capacity to 1,270MW through the development of greenfield projects. According to the company's 2009 annual report, Cosan sold 1.57 billion liters of ethanol.

11 Feb 2011.