Brazil cane mill Moema has 5 big suitors - report

SAO PAULO, June 16 (Reuters) - Five commodities giants, including Cargill Inc [CARG.UL] and Bunge Ltd (BG.N), are mulling taking a stake in Brazilian ethanol and sugar producer Grupo Moema, whose partners include the world's second-biggest sugarcane grower, a local newspaper said on on Tuesday.

Moema, 35 percent of which is owned by Brazilian sugar and ethanol tycoon Maurilio Biagi Filho, is also being considered by Brazilian cane milling rivals Cosan (CZZ.N), Sao Martinho (SMTO3.SA) and Acucar Guarani (ACGU3.SA), according to a report by local newspaper Valor Economico.

Moema is looking for fresh capital to expand its business, Valor said, without saying how it obtained the information.

Mergers and acquisitions have been gaining momentum in Brazil's sugar and ethanol sector since the credit crisis hit mills that took on too much debt in past years to leverage their expansion.

The Biagis, along with the Junqueiras, two of Brazil's oldest sugarcane families, recently sold Santelisa Vale, one of the biggest and most modern milling operations in the cane sector, to the local subsidiary of the French commodities group Louis Dreyfus.

Weakened by its own indebtedness when credit dried up in 2008 due to the global financial crisis, Santelisa Vale -- one of the crown jewels of the sugar and ethanol industry -- was forced into a sale.

Moema, which crushes about 15 million tonnes of sugar per season, has annual revenue estimated at about 1 billion reais, Valor said.

According to Valor, none of the companies mentioned in the story commented. Biagi Filho told Valor that Moema is "analyzing market opportunities" without elaborating. (Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by Walter Bagley)