(Des Moines)– An Australian company wants to buy part of the first and largest farmer-owned ethanol plant operations in Iowa.
Global Ethanol has agreed to purchase a 60 percent interest in Midwest Grain Processors.
Roger Ginder, an economics expert at Iowa State University Extension, says he thinks it’s one of the first times a foreign company has bought a controlling interest in an ethanol plant started by Iowa farmers.
Ginder says the sale may raise fears of increased foreign investment in the ethanol industry, but it’s no surprise.
The agreement is contingent on on a favorable opinion from from an investment banking adviser that the deal is fair to the 13-hundred member-owners of Midwest Grain Processors. Members of the co-op must also approve the deal.
Details weren’t released on how much the 60 percent stake is worth.
Midwest Grain Processors operates an ethanol plant in Lakota.
(Story from the Associated Press).
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