(Sioux Falls, S.D.)– Valero Energy will buy seven ethanol plants from Verasun Energy for 477 million dollars, the largest biofuel buyout in terms of production capacity.
Verasun, the country’s second largest ethanol producer, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October and on Wednesday, a Delaware bankruptcy court approved the sale.
Valero won an auction for the assets in court on Tuesday. The sale is expected to close in April.
Also involved in the bidding was agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland.
Valero becomes the first traditional refiner to cross over into ethanol production. It will acquire plants in Aurora, South Dakota; Charles City, Fort Dodge and Hartley, Iowa; Welcome, Minnesota; Albion, Nebraska; and a development site in Reynolds, Indiana.
(Story from the Associated Press.).
