Valero Renewable Fuels Company, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO), announced today that it has signed an agreement with ASA Ethanol Holdings, LLC to buy two ethanol plants that had been previously owned by VeraSun Energy Corporation (OTC BB: VSUNQ).
ASA Ethanol Holdings, LLC is a company owned by a former syndicate of lenders to the facilities, agented by West LB AG, which acquired the plants through the VeraSun bankruptcy auction.
The plants–located in Linden, Ind. and Bloomingburg, Ohio–each have an annual production capacity of 110 million gallons. Valero will pay $200 million to buy the plants.
Additionally, Valero has received approval from a bankruptcy court to acquire Renew Energy’s 110 million gallon per year ethanol facility located near Jefferson, Wis. for $72 million following a bankruptcy auction held Dec. 11. Together, Valero will buy the three plants for roughly 41% of their estimated replacement cost.
These acquisitions expand the company’s ethanol production capacity to 1.1 billion gallons per year. Valero Renewables also operates ethanol plants in Albert City, Charles City, Fort Dodge and Hartley, Iowa; Aurora, S.D.; Welcome, Minn.; and Albion, Neb.
“The Linden and Bloomingburg plants have the same high-quality design that we got with our earlier purchase of seven ethanol plants, and they’re also relatively new assets,” said Valero Chairman and CEO Bill Klesse. “The purchase of the plant from Renew gives us additional production capacity. The ethanol plants we bought earlier this year have been very successful for Valero, and we expect these newly purchased plants to build on that success.”
The Linden and Bloomingburg plants are currently idled, but will be restarted within approximately three to six months following the closing of the transaction. Both plants will also produce dry distillers grains, a co-product of the ethanol production process that is sold as a livestock feed. The Renew facility is currently operating at reduced rates but is expected to increase to full production over time.
Both transactions are expected to close in early 2010, following regulatory approvals including termination of the review period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. Credit Suisse advised Valero on the Linden and Bloomingburg acquisition.
Besides Valero’s ethanol plant purchases, the company has explored other alternative energy sources in the past year, including completing a 50 megawatt wind farm near its McKee Refinery in the Texas Panhandle and investing in companies that are developing technologies to produce cellulosic ethanol, biofuel from plant material, algae and animal fat, and a synthetic gasoline made from landfill waste.
Valero Energy Corporation is a Fortune 500 company based in San Antonio with approximately 21,000 employees. The company operates 15 oil refineries with a combined throughput capacity of approximately 2.8 million barrels per day. Valero is also a leading ethanol producer with seven ethanol plants in the Midwest with a combined capacity of 780 million gallons per year, and is one of the nation’s largest retail operators with approximately 5,800 retail and branded wholesale outlets in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean under the Valero, Diamond Shamrock, Shamrock, Ultramar, and Beacon brands.
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