In the United States (US), Gevo Inc., a leading developer of hydrocarbon fuels and chemicals with net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, has announced that it has completed the sale transaction of Agri-Energy LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Gevo, to A.E. Innovation LLC.
Announced in May 2025, the transaction includes Agri’s 18 million (US) gallon (≈ 68.1 million litre) per annum ethanol-production facility and a portion of the adjacent land, located in Luverne, Minnesota (MN).
For Gevo, this is a divestiture of a non-core asset that provided US$2 million in upfront cash and US$5 million in future cash installments, while saving approximately US$3 million in annual idling costs per year.
Under the terms of the sale, Gevo retained ownership of the majority of the isobutanol production assets onsite and approximately 30 acres (12.1 hectares) of land.
Restart ethanol production
A.E. Innovation, an agriculture-oriented buyer group located in Minnesota, acquired the Agri-Energy ethanol plant with the intention of restarting ethanol production, which has been idled since March 2020.
Furthermore, A.E. Innovation intends to use the site to produce ethanol and to make the site available for other companies to scale up new technologies and ideas as an innovation site.
Gevo’s retained assets at the site would allow the company to continue to utilize its differentiated and patented fermentation technologies with the capacity to produce 1 million gallons (≈ 3.8 million litres) per annum of low-carbon isobutanol for use in chemical markets, as feedstock for racing fuels, gasoline, and jet fuel.
