Four sugar mills sold

Mexico
Mexico on Friday auctioned off four state sugar mills, selling them for a total of 3.28 billion pesos ($213 million), but the tender for five other mills was declared void after no bids were presented.
The Atencingo and San Cristobal mills were sold to Impulsora Azucarera del Noroeste for 1.97 billion pesos, while the Casasano and Emiliano Zapata sugar mills were awarded to Grupo Beta San Miguel for 1.31 billion pesos, said FEESA, the government-run fund that administers the mills. Javier Dorantes, a director at the privatization arm of Mexico’s finance ministry, said the remaining mills would be sold through a public auction.
“The aim of the government is to sell all the mills, and we will review the best way to do it,” Dorantes said. The tender of the nine sugar mills, which together produce about one quarter of Mexico’s annual output, is the latest step in an effort to unwind a government takeover of the mills that began over a decade ago.