Abengoa receives $350 million worth in bids for four US ethanol plants

Struggling Spanish renewable energy company Abengoa has received $350 million (€312m) worth of bids for its four ethanol plants in the US Midwest.

Abengoa is seeking to get rid of its four plants – located in Mt. Vernon, Indiana; Madison, Illinois; and Ravenna and York, Nebraska – as part of its global restructuring due to the company’s multibillion-dollar debt.

According to US Bankruptcy Court papers, Nebraska-based Green Plains has put forward a $200 million offer for the Mt. Vernon and Madison plants, while Kaapa Ethanol has offered $115 million for the Ravenna plant and BioUrja Trading $35 million for York.

Both of Abengoa’s Nebraska plants were closed in late 2015, but a bankruptcy filing allowed them to restart operations this April.

All offered prices are remarked to be subject to adjustments, include various liabilities, and are subject to an auction process overseen by the US Bankruptcy Court.

Abengoa has, according to court papers, set a deadline of 25 August for having all winning bids reviewed by the court in order to “maximise value of the purchased assets”.

Abengoa’s US arm filed for chapter 11 protection in February and in April the Bankruptcy court approved $41 million in financing to restart the Nebraska plants.

This article was written by Ilari Kauppila, deputy editor at Biofuels International