Cargill to Lease ProGold Wet Corn Mill with Option to Buy 50 Percent Stake
Cargill and ProGold LLC have announced that Cargill has agreed to lease and operate ProGold’s wet corn mill located in Wahpeton, North Dakota, through December 31, 2022.
Cargill also has struck a deal with American Crystal Sugar Co., owner of 51 percent of the plant, for the option to buy its half stake in the plant within the first four years of the five-year lease agreement, though a potential sale price was not disclosed.
Under the terms of the five-year lease agreement, Cargill will pay ProGold annual rent of $17 million beginning in 2018 and 2019, $16 million in 2020, $15.5 million in 2021 and 2022, and if the lease is extended by a year, then Cargill will pay rent of $14 million in 2023.
If Cargill does exercise its right to acquire a half stake in the mill, Golden Growers Cooperative will pay American Crystal Sugar’s remaining 1 percent at a base price of anywhere between $1.3 million and $1.7 million.
