Green Plains Renewable Acquires Two Ethanol Plants in Nebraska and Minnesota

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Green Plains Renewable Energy Incorporated (NASDAQ:GPRE) (Omaha, Nebraska) continues to grow its portfolio of ethanol plants with the acquisition of two fuel ethanol plants in Wood River, Nebraska, and Fairmont, Minnesota.

GPRE has acquired the former BioFuel Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:BIOF) plant in Fairmont, Minnesota, for $53.3 million. Ethanol is currently trickling out of the plant at a rate of 9.6 million gallons annually, but by the end of January, the plant is expected to be running at nameplate 115 million gallons per year.

The former BioFuel Energy plant in Wood River was not idled when BioFuel Energy saw money woes in August 2013. The company was able to pay its lenders $177 million in principal and interest, and was able to assume and satisfy substantially all of the remaining liabilities of subsidiaries that were parties to the credit agreement.

The two facilities have a combined annual production capacity of approximately 220 million gallons. The acquisition will increase Green Plains' production capacity by 28% to more than 1 billion gallons of ethanol, 2.9 million tons of distillers dried grains and 230 million pounds of corn oil per year.

Additional plants owned by GPRE are located in Shenandoah (65 million gallons per year); Superior, Iowa (60 million gallons per year); Ord, Nebraska (55 million gallons per year); Riga, Michigan (60 million gallons per year); Fergus Falls, Minnesota (60 million gallons per year); Atkinson, Nebraska (50 million gallons per year); Bluffton, Indiana (120 million gallons per year); Central City, Nebraska (100 million gallons per year); Lakota, Iowa (100 million gallons per year); and Obion, Tennessee (120 million gallons per year).

GPE also acquired a 44 million-gallon-per-year plant in Atkinson, Nebraska. The plant is being retrofitted to produce corn oil. It was expected to be in production by the end of this month.

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