(Bloomberg) -- On the heels of concluding a bankruptcy protection plan, sugar cane company Atvos SA is putting in place the biggest investment program in its history to increase ethanol production in Brazil.

The company disclosed its plans just as it completed a judicial recovery process this week. The second-biggest ethanol producer in Brazil vowed to improve productivity and is leaving the door open for mergers and acquisitions, the company’s CEO said in an interview with Bloomberg.

“We just finished a hard chapter and now our life will be simpler with less legal and bureaucratic meetings and we will stop looking behind and focus on the future,” said CEO Bruno Serapião.

The company plans to invest 1.6 billion reais ($320 million) this year and 1.5 billion reais ($300 million) a year each in 2024 and 2025. The goal is to increase processing closer to 32 million metric tons per year after capacity was stalled. This year, the company plans to process 26 million to 27 million tons of sugar cane.

As part of its restructuring, the company received 500 million reais ($100 million) from Mubadala Capital that will be used for investments and acquisitions. “We are a biofuels company and we will position ourselves like that,” Serapião said.

The CEO said the company does not intend to increase sugar production over ethanol. Currently, the mix is closer to 85% of ethanol and 15% of sugar, Serapião said, adding, “We might see this mix moving 5% up or down, but not to 60%-40%.”

--With assistance from Dayanne Sousa.

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.