Green Plains completes Abengoa ethanol plant acquisition

Green Plains, a Nebraska, US-based ethanol producer, has completed the previously announced acquisition of three ethanol plants for approximately $237 million in cash from Abengoa Bioenergy.

The company immediately sold the ethanol storage assets to Green Plains Partners for $90 million.

All three plants - located in Madison, Illinois; Mount Vernon, Indiana; and York, Nebraska – are currently operational and will add 236 million gallons per year of ethanol production capacity.

"In the past 12 months, we have expanded our ethanol production capacity by approximately 50%. Adding the Illinois and Indiana locations provide us with a bigger and more diverse geographic footprint," said Todd Becker, president and CEO at Green Plains.

"With nearly 1.5 billion gallons of production capacity, we are moving meaningful volumes across the agricultural and energy supply chains, further positioning us to serve both domestic and international markets efficiently and effectively."

Husch Blackwell acted as legal advisor to Green Plains in connection with the transaction and Carl Marks Advisors acted as financial advisors and DLA Piper acted as legal advisors to Abengoa Bioenergy.