Green Plains presses ahead with plans to buy two Abengoa plants as it completes private offering

Green Plains, the fourth-biggest US ethanol producer, has announced completion of its offering of $170 million (€151m) aggregate principal amount of 4.125% convertible senior notes due 2022, as it presses ahead with plans to buy two ethanol plants from Abengoa.

The notes were offered and sold in a private placement to qualified institutional buyers as defined in Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The company's estimated net proceeds from the offering were approximately $164.25 million after deducting placement agents' discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses.

The company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, including the financing of a portion of the potential acquisition of two ethanol plants affiliated with Abengoa Bioenergy.

The plants, based in Illinois and Indiana, have a combined annual production capacity of about 180 million gallons of ethanol, Omaha.

The mills in Mount Vernon, Indiana, and Madison, Illinois, are being sold in an auction by Abengoa units.

The notes will mature on 1 September, 2022, and will bear interest at a fixed rate of 4.125% per year, payable on March 1 and Sept. 1 of each year, beginning March 1, 2017.

This story was written by Liz Gyekye, editor of Biofuels International.