December 21, 2011

Green Plains acquires JW Grain

Green Plains Renewable Energy, Inc. (GPRE) has announced that it has acquired the grain elevator assets of KW Carter Company d/b/a JW Grain located in Nebraska, US.

JW Grain holds 1.9 million bushels of state-licensed grain storage and is located approximately 40 miles from the company's Central City, Nebraska, ethanol production facility. The JW Grain facilities, serviced by the Nebraska Central Railroad, can load 25-car unit trains. The acquisition is expected to be completed within 30 days. Green Plains plans to expand the on-site grain storage capacity by up to one million bushels, which is expected to be completed before the 2012 harvest.

"We continue to seek out opportunities to expand our agribusiness segment that can bring additional scale to our operations," said Todd Becker, president and chief executive officer. "Acquiring facilities to increase our grain storage and merchandising capabilities is an important part of our diversification strategy going forward. Once this acquisition and expansion is completed, Green Plains will have 40 million bushels of grain storage capacity at 15 elevator locations in Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska and Tennessee."