Ethanol plant may go private

FRIESLAND - United Wisconsin Grain Producers will hold a stockholders meeting in Friesland Saturday to vote on whether to take the company private.


The company operates an ethanol plant in Columbia County that opened in May 2005 and produces approximately 53 million gallons of ethanol a year.

CEO Jeff Robertson said UWGP initiated the effort to deregister the company as a means of saving about $250,000 annually in accounting and legal fees. According to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the cost of taking the company private will be around $130,000.

“It’s a trend in our industry,” Robertson said.

Under the plan, three classes of stockholders would be created. Class A stockholders would be those who own 50 or more shares, Class B those who own 11 to 49 shares and Class C would be those who own 10 or fewer shares. All would continue to share in the profits, but voting rights would be changed for those who have Class B or Class C stock.

Robertson said the company was required to register with the SEC when it began because it had more than 500 stockholders. Adding classes allows the company to reduce the shareholders in each class to fewer than 500 and eliminate the SEC filing requirements.

The company currently has 28,500 shares in the hands of 950 shareholders, 80 percent of whom are from the state and the majority within 50 miles of the plant.

The company has SEC approval of the move and Robertson said Tuesday many of the proxy ballots sent to shareholders had been returned.

source: wiscnews