FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACTS
INVESTOR
RELATIONS:
|
MEDIA:
|
916-403-2755
|
Joseph
Hansen, Pacific Ethanol, Inc.
|
866-508-4969
|
916-403-2123
|
InvestorRelations@pacificethanol.net
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jhansen@pacificethanol.net
|
PACIFIC
ETHANOL ANNOUNCES $34.25 MILLION IN FINANCINGS
Sacramento, California, May 23, 2008
- -- Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (NASDAQ GM: PEIX) today announced that on May
22, 2008 it closed transactions under a Securities Purchase Agreement dated May
20, 2008 with the Company’s CEO, Neil Koehler, and several other Company
insiders, including Chairman Bill Jones. The Company sold 294,870
shares of its Series B Cumulative Convertible Preferred Stock, all of which are
initially convertible into an aggregate of 884,610 shares of the Company’s
common stock based on an initial three-for-one conversion ratio, and (ii)
warrants to purchase an aggregate of 442,305 shares of the Company’s common
stock at an exercise price of $7.00 per share, for an aggregate purchase price
of $5.75 million.
The
Company also announced that it has entered into definitive agreements with
institutional investors to raise $28.5 million in gross proceeds, before
deducting placement agent fees and estimated offering expenses, in a Registered
Direct Offering through the sale of shares of its common stock and
warrants. The Company has entered into subscription agreements with
these investors pursuant to which it has agreed to sell 6.0 million units, each
unit consisting of one share of common stock and a warrant to purchase 0.50
shares of common stock, at a purchase price of $4.75 per unit. The
warrants will first become exercisable after six months from the closing of the
financing and will provide for an exercise price of $7.10 per
share. At closing, the Company will issue 6.0 million shares of
common stock and warrants to purchase 3.0 million shares of common
stock. The closing of the offering is subject to certain conditions
and is scheduled to occur on or around May 29, 2008.
Lazard
Capital Markets LLC acted as sole placement agent for the Offering.
A shelf
registration statement relating to the securities the Company intends to sell
has previously been declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission
(“SEC”). This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or
the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of these
securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would
be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of
any such jurisdiction. Any offer will be made only by means of a prospectus, including
a prospectus supplement, forming a part of the effective registration statement,
a copy of which may be obtained, when available, at the SEC's website at
http://www.sec.gov or from Lazard Capital Markets LLC at 30 Rockefeller Plaza,
60th floor, New York, NY 10020.
About Pacific Ethanol,
Inc.
Pacific
Ethanol is the largest West Coast-based marketer and producer of
ethanol. Pacific Ethanol has ethanol plants in Madera, California;
Boardman, Oregon; and Burley, Idaho and has an additional plant under
construction in Stockton, California. Pacific Ethanol also owns a 42%
interest in Front Range Energy, LLC which owns an ethanol plant in Windsor,
Colorado. Central to Pacific Ethanol’s growth strategy is its
destination business model, whereby each respective ethanol plant achieves lower
process and transportation costs by servicing local markets for both fuel and
feed. Pacific Ethanol’s goal is to achieve 220 million gallons per
year of ethanol production capacity in 2008 and to increase total production
capacity to 420 million gallons per year in 2010. In addition,
Pacific Ethanol is working to identify and develop other renewable fuel
technologies, such as cellulose-based ethanol production and
bio-diesel.
Safe Harbor Statement under
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
With the
exception of historical information, the matters discussed in this press release
are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and
uncertainties. The actual future results of Pacific Ethanol could
differ from those statements. Factors that could cause or contribute
to such differences include, but are not limited to, the ability of Pacific
Ethanol to successfully and timely complete, in a cost-effective manner,
construction of its ethanol plants under construction; the ability of Pacific
Ethanol to obtain all necessary financing to complete the construction of its
other planned ethanol production facilities; the ability of Pacific Ethanol to
timely complete its ethanol plant build-out program and to successfully
capitalize on its internal growth initiatives; the ability of Pacific Ethanol to
operate its plants at their planned production capacities; the price of ethanol
relative to the price of gasoline; the effect of federal and state governmental
regulations on the demand for ethanol; and the factors contained in the “Risk
Factors” section of Pacific Ethanol’s Form 10-K filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission on March 27, 2008.
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