Pacific Ethanol formally exits venture with Aurora Cooperative

US ethanol producer Pacific Ethanol Inc (NASDAQ:PEIX) has finalised the sale of its 74% stake in Pacific Aurora LLC to its partner in the ethanol venture, Aurora Cooperative Elevator Company.

The agreed total valuation of the deal was USD 52.8 million (EUR 48.8m) and after working capital adjustments and settlement of certain payables between the parties Pacific Ethanol got USD 20.2 million of cash at closing plus USD 16.5 million in promissory notes. The vendor noted that some USD 14.5 million of the cash proceeds was spent on repayments to its lender CoBank.

Aurora Cooperative now has full ownership of Pacific Aurora. The transaction included two ethanol production plants with a total annual production capacity of 145 million gallons, a grain elevator and integrated rail facilities in Aurora, Nebraska, as previously announced.

Neil Koehler, Pacific Ethanol’s president and CEO, stated that the sale of Pacific Aurora is a significant step in achieving its strategic initiatives that include debt reduction.

“Aurora Cooperative is pleased to protect these local destination and rail markets for our farmer owners by gaining full ownership of these ethanol plants, elevator, and rail assets,” in turn commented Chris Vincent, president and CEO of Aurora Cooperative.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.925)

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