NTR sells shares back to US biofuels company

NTR HAS sold part of its stake in a US biofuels business at a discount to the price of its original investment.

The utility group said yesterday that it had sold 3.5 million of its shares in Green Plains Renewable Energy back to the US company for $8 a unit, or $28 million (€20.5 million).

The Irish group’s original investment in Green Plains was priced at $10 a share when it merged its biofuels business with the Nasdaq-listed business in 2008.

The shares themselves were trading at about $9 in New York yesterday.

An NTR spokesman said after the announcement that the sale was intended as a rebalancing of its renewable energy investments.

“The company did buy in at $10 in 2008, but considering the share value went below $2 subsequent to that, the company is happy with the price,” the spokesman said.

The shares it has sold represent close to 10 per cent of Green Plains’ total issued share capital and about one-third of NTR’s entire stake in the business.

The Irish group intends to maintain a stake in Green Plains, in which it still has approximately 7.7 million shares, or more than 20 per cent of the company.

NTR merged its biofuels plants in Indiana and Tennessee into Green Plans in 2008. As part of that deal, the Irish group invested $60 million directly in Green Plans in return for its stake.

That stake was subsequently diluted as Green Plains has issued news shares since 2008 as part payment for other biofuels operations that the group has bought. The biofuels producer had sales of over $2 billion last year.

Along with Green Plains, NTR has investments in wind energy, solar power and waste management in the US.

In Ireland, it operates waste manager Greenstar, owns toll road concessions through its stake in Celtic Roads and has stakes in telecoms company Imagine and waste water specialist Celtic Anglian Water.

In recent years, it sold its interests in the east and west link toll roads in Dublin to the State and in energy company, Airtricity.

The Roche family and investment vehicle One51 own most of NTR’s shares, which are traded on the grey market.

In the 12 months ended March 31st, the company’s investments took a €132 million hit.

A write-off of €42 million from the value of its US solar power business, Stirling Energy Systems, contributed to the loss.