Christopher Tufton, Jamaica's agricultural minister, says Infinity Bio-Energy, a Brazilian renewable energy company, is finalizing talks to buy the struggling Sugar Company of Jamaica to boost its ethanol production.

Minister Tufton says the Brazilian company will take over in September.  Jamaica will retain a 25 percent share in the company for three years. Officials did not cite a sale amount.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding said Friday that the company's six factories have lost a total of US$283 million since Jamaica bought them in 1998. Almost 13,000 workers will be let go.

It is the second major investment that Infinity Bio-Energy has made in the Caribbean. It agreed last year to spend more than US$200 million to produce ethanol by 2009 with Dominican Republic's Bioetanol Boca Chica SA.