Iowa ethanol producer Hawkeye emerges from bankruptcy

June 22, 2010

One of the nation’s largest ethanol producers, Hawkeye Renewables, emerged from bankruptcy on Friday after going through a restructuring process.

Hawkeye Renewables, which has ethanol plants in Iowa Falls and Fairbank, Iowa, filed a voluntary restructuring plan back in December 2009, and received confirmation of its reorganization plans earlier this month from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware.

The company’s two plants produce approximately 225 million gallons of corn based ethanol per year, and were operational during the bankruptcy period.

The restructuring sees debt converted into equity, with debtholders becoming new equity owners who then appointed a new board of directors.

Working capital

“It is important for farmers and producers who sell corn to Hawkeye Renewables to know that both plants are emerging from this process with significant working capital, minimal debt, and a new balance sheet,” said Jim Continenza, the newly elected Chairman of the Board of Hawkeye Renewables.

Mr. Continenza further commented, “We believe the financial future of the two plants has been stabilized and the two plants will continue to make positive contributions to their local communities.”

Hawkeye Gold, the sister company of Hawkeye Renewables, will continue to be owned by Hawkeye Energy Holdings, and was unaffected by the bankruptcy and restructuring of the Renewables business.

The Gold subsidiary operates ethanol plants in Menlo and Shell Rock, Iowa.

Apologies from BrighterEnergy.org:

Owing to technical difficulties with our web host service, the original text of this story was lost on June 24, along with our original output from June 18-24, 2010. We have attempted to restore a recovered version, which may be different from the earlier version.