WestLB Arranges Project Financing for Oregon’s Cascade Grain, Providing over 100 million Gallons of Ethanol a Year for the Northwest
WestLB Capital Markets North America unit successfully closed a USD 100 million senior secured credit facility for Cascade Grain Products, a destination ethanol plant sponsored by Berggruen Holdings. The facility supports the construction and operation of one of the largest plants in the Pacific Northwest with a state of the art 113.4 million gallon per year corn-based dry mill fuel grade ethanol plant. WestLB acted as Lead Arranger, Sole Bookrunner and Administrative Agent for this transaction.
WestLB has gained significant momentum in the ethanol financing space, closing two high profile deals, one of which was the largest ethanol financing to-date in the United States. In total, WestLB has been mandated on over USD 1.2 billion and successfully syndicated USD 650 million of ethanol financings.
The unique financing structure of Cascade Grain incorporates a loan from the state of Oregon Department of Energy that shares in the collateral with the senior credit facility. The financing is 1.5 times oversubscribed and also represents the first “Destination Plant” to be broadly syndicated to multiple investor classes.
The plant will service the West Coast, the largest ethanol market in the U.S., with ready access to primary markets of Washington, Oregon and California, as well as secondary markets of Alaska, Hawaii and the Pacific Rim. Located near Port Westward short-line railroad, the plant will receive corn via 110-car unit trains, minimizing transportation costs.