UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported):  November 15, 2019

PACIFIC ETHANOL, INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)

(Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (17 CFR §230.405) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (17 CFR §240.12b-2). Emerging growth company ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Amendment No. 6 to Credit Agreement and Other Loan Documents

On November 15, 2019, Pacific Ethanol Pekin, LLC (“PE Pekin”), an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (the “Company”), Compeer Financial, PCA (the “Lender”) (as successor by merger to 1st Farm Credit Services, PCA) and CoBank, ACB (together with Lender, the “Lender Parties”) entered into Amendment No. 6 to Credit Agreement and Other Loan Documents (the “Amendment”) dated November 15, 2019, further amending that certain Credit Agreement dated December 15, 2016 by and among PE Pekin, 1st Farm Credit Services, PCA, as lender, and CoBank, as cash management provider and agent (the “Credit Agreement”).

Under the Amendment, the Lender Parties agreed to extend the temporary waiver of violations of financial and other covenants under the Credit Agreement relating to working capital maintenance, intercompany accounts receivable collections, financial projections, cash flow forecasts, and sales reports. The Lender Parties also agreed to extend the deferral of all scheduled principal payments payable on February 20, 2019, May 20, 2019 and November 15, 2019 to December 15, 2019.

The waivers and principal deferral expire on December 15, 2019, or earlier in the case of an event of default or termination event, the latter of which includes breach of the Amendment or the termination or expiration of any forbearance arrangement, payment date extension, maturity date extension, or other temporary financial accommodation under the credit facility of Kinergy Marketing LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company (“Kinergy”), or the senior secured notes of the Company.

On December 15, 2019, the waivers will become permanent if Pacific Ethanol Central, LLC (“PE Central”), PE Pekin’s parent company, and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, has made a contribution to PE Pekin in an amount equal to $30,000,000, minus the then-existing amount of PE Pekin’s working capital, plus the amount of any accounts receivable owed by PE Central to PE Pekin, plus $12,000,000 (the “PE Central Contribution Amount”). In addition, if the PE Central Contribution Amount is timely received, the Lender Parties agreed to waive PE Pekin’s debt service coverage ratio financial covenant for the year ended December 31, 2019. If the PE Central Contribution Amount is not timely made, then the temporary waivers will automatically expire.

The Amendment also makes a payment default of $250,000 or more under Kinergy’s credit facility or the senior secured notes of the Company, or any acceleration of indebtedness, or any termination of any commitment to lend or termination of any forbearance or other accommodation, an event of default under the Credit Agreement.

The Amendment also contains customary representations, warranties and covenants, and other customary terms and conditions.

Descriptions of the Credit Agreement are set forth in the Company’s Current Reports on Forms 8-K for December 15, 2016, August 7, 2017, March 30, 2018 and March 21, 2019 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 20, 2016, August 11, 2017, April 5, 2018, March 27, 2019 and July 15, 2019, respectively, and are incorporated herein by this reference.

On November 15, 2019, PE Pekin and the Lender Parties entered into the Amendment as described under Item 1.01 above and incorporated herein by this reference.

SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

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