Suedzucker, Europe's largest sugar company, plans to float its bioethanol unit CropEnergies this year if market conditions remain good, it said on Friday, sending its shares up more than 3 percent.
"With the IPO we intend to place CropEnergies on course to occupy the leading position in Europe in the bioethanol (market) by 2008/09 with an annual production capacity of over 750,000 cubic metres," Chief Executive Theo Spettmann said.
Sources familiar with the situation told Reuters the stock market debut was planned for September 27 and that the total value of shares to be offered in the listing was likely to be around 400 million euros.
Bio fuel stocks are becoming a lucrative opportunity for investors as the European Union aims to increase the mixture ratio of bioethanol to petrol to 5.75 percent by 2010 from 2 percent at present.