San Ramon-based Chevron Corp. will sell 2,000 Texaco gas stations and some related businesses in Brazil for about $730 million. As reported in San Francisco Business Times:

Chevron agreed to sell the businesses to Ultrapar Participações S.A., based in São Paulo. The deal requires separating out Chevron’s lubricant and oil exploration businesses, which aren’t included in the deal. The separation will take until early 2009, according to Ultrapar. Pedro Wongtschowski is CEO of Ultrapar. The company will pay the price, which is subject to a working capital adjustment, out of its cash reserves.

Ultrapar is licensing the Texaco brand name for up to five years, during which time it will phase in the use of its own Ipiranga brand name. In this deal it will also get some equity in terminal operations. Texaco is the No. 4 fuel brand in Brazil by sales volume, with sales of about 120,000 barrels per day.

The San Jose / Silicon Valley Business Journal reports that: “High tech venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson said Wednesday it is opening a Brazil-based affiliate in partnership with FIR Capital Partners. Menlo Park-based DFJ said it will enter the Brazilian market with an initial $40 million and focus on funding ‘extraordinary entrepreneurs with the vision to build leading global companies.’ As part of the agreement the two firms will launch a $100 million fund, DFJ FIR Brazil Fund II, targeting offshore investors, which will invest in innovative Brazilian companies in high-growth industries. A timeframe for that launch was not disclosed. FIR is a Brazil-based investment banking, private equity firm focused on investing in high growth industries in Brazil and Latin America.”