Largest Ethanol Plant in Western US to be Built

Berggruen Holdings plans to build the largest destination ethanol plant on the US West Coast. The company has successfully closed a $100 million senior secured credit facility for Cascade Grain Products.

Combined with equity capital from Berggruen, the facility supports the construction and operation of the first large scale plant in the Pacific Northwest with a state of the art 113.4 million gallon per year corn-based dry mill fuel grade ethanol plant. The plant is designed by Delta T and will be constructed by JH Kelly LLC Ethanol, a joint venture between TIC and JH Kelly Construction.

Cascade Grain is the initial plant in Berggruen’s strategy to construct a series of strategically located plants. “Berggruen Holdings and our management team at Cascade Grain Products have established a platform with knowledgeable and high quality partners, positioning the firm to be a leader on the West Coast,” observed Nicolas Berggruen, President of Berggruen Holdings. “Our team has developed this strategy over the past two years and we believe that this will provide Cascade Grain the flexibility to manage its business during all phases of the commodity cycle.”

The Cascade Grain financing arranged and led by WestLB, was more than 1.5 times oversubscribed and represents the first “Destination Plant” to be broadly syndicated among multiple investor classes. The facility incorporates a loan from Oregon’s Department of Energy that shares in the collateral with the senior credit facility.

The plant will serve the West Coast, the largest ethanol market in the U.S. It will readily access the primary markets of Washington, Oregon and California, and the secondary markets of Alaska, Hawaii, and the Pacific Rim. Located at Port Westward on the Columbia River, the plant will receive corn via 110-car unit trains, minimizing transportation costs. Cascade Grain has access to water transportation and expects to ship the majority of its ethanol via barges and will export a significant amount of DDGS both in bulk and containerized shipments as well as serving the local dairy industry.

“Having developed its expertise, infrastructure and strategic partnerships, Berggruen is dedicated to developing a significant platform and building an industry leader able to help develop ethanol as an alternative energy source,” commented Charles Carlson, CEO of Cascade Grain Products, LLC.