"We may be a small company in Perth, but we're looking to start an oil company that can stand alongside the majors… that’s the vision,” Australian Ethanol chief executive Peter Anderton told EMN in December, explaining the company’s plans for growth in the US.
Australian Ethanol had originally negotiated the purchase of US ethanol producer Denco, but sold its acquisition rights to Babcock & Brown Environmental Investments in late 2005.
At the time, Anderton said the Denco sale had generated capital that would let it pursue other existing US ethanol producers with less project-related debt.
On March 1, Australian Ethanol (listed on the ASX as AAE) announced it had acquired Nebraska-based Beatrice Biodiesel (BBL) for $A600, 000, plus the issue of 5 million fully paid Australian Ethanol shares.
Payment of more than half of the consideration is contingent on BBL securing approval for the production facility south of Lincoln, for which Australian Ethanol has earmarked $US2 million.
AAE received $A8 million in cash for its role in BEI’s acquisition of Denco, which it has clearly been putting to good use in the US biofuels market.
The BBL biodiesel plant will be built in the Gage County Industrial Park, south of Lincoln, producing 50 million gallons of biodiesel a year in addition to commercial quantities of glycerine byproduct.
Local leaders has welcomed the news of AAE’s purchase of the project.
Gage County Economic Development chairman Paul Garnett was quoted in the Beatrice Daily Sun, as saying the community welcomed foreign investment and the diversification of local industry. Local government is deeply involved in the project, which has been in development for over a year.
The Beatrice City Council annexed lots in the Gage County Industrial Park in August and February in order to secure tax increment financing to pay for plant-related infrastructure.
BBL managing director David Blythe said he chose Beatrice as the site of the plant because of its location on the edge of the soybean belt and existing soybean crushing facilities nearby.
He also said the site's infrastructure fitted the needs of the plant, which would require rail access to get its feedstock in and its product out.
According to Australian Ethanol, BBL has received a proposal from a major Fortune 500 US grain and commodity group to supply all the required soy oil and offtake all the B100 biodiesel product from the Beatrice Biodiesel Project for five years.
