SAO PAULO (Bloomberg) — Cosan SA Industria e Comercio, the world's biggest sugar-cane processor, plans to step up acquisitions to allow it to sell more of its ethanol in the US.

The company may seek to acquire processing plants in the US or Mexico, chief financial officer Paulo Diniz said at a conference with analysts. Piracicaba, Brazil-based Cosan may also try to buy mills in the Caribbean and Central America to remove water from ethanol, which would allow it to bypass US tariffs, he said.

"We want to be a global biofuel company," Diniz said. "We want to really start competing against oil companies."

Bermuda-based Cosan, the parent company created in April, raised $860.3 million in an initial public offering in the US in August to expand abroad and fend off acquisitions.

The company may raise more money in equity and debt markets to fund its expansion, Diniz said. Cosan may be able to raise as much as $15bn of capital and borrow up to $30bn, he said.

A drop in sugar and ethanol prices may prompt producers to abandon plans to build mills in Brazil, Manager of Investor Relations Guilherme Prado said. Cosan may try to acquire some of the unfinished plants if the price is reasonable, he said.

The company expects to complete the paperwork and allow Cosan SA investors to tender shares in exchange for Cosan stock by December, Diniz said.

Cosan SA may delist its stock in Brazil if enough investors choose to swap their shares, he said.

Cosan shares rose 61 cents, or 5.2 percent, to $12.25 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading in New York on Friday afternoon. The stock has climbed 17 percent since the company's IPO on August 15.