COTTONDALE — Jackson County wood pellet manufacturer Green Circle Bio Energy closed on a deal last week to sell its total share holdings to Maryland-based pellet company Enviva.
Green Circle’s production plant near Cottondale produces and sells about 650,000 metric tons of pellets per year and utilizes Port Panama City to exports its product to overseas customers.
Company president and CEO Morten Neraas told The News Herald following the announcement last fall that he did not anticipate any changes to the logistics of Green Circle’s current operations as a result of the sale.
“There’s nothing that will change as far as the operation. ... All of that will stay the same,” Neraas said. “We are not looking at any changes for the foreseeable future.”
Enviva is now exploring options to offer company stock to the public, according to recent intent filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Enviva operates five pellet plants in the southeastern U.S. and exports products from Chesapeake, Va., and Mobile, Ala. Though Enviva officials could not be reached for comment Friday, the company’s website now lists the Cottondale location as its sixth plant, with a new export location at Port Panama City also added to the lineup.
Green Circle began production at the Jackson County facility in 2008, and the plant now employs more than 100 operators, engineers and technicians. Upon announcing the deal, Enviva released a statement outlining the complementary nature of the two companies, each of which supply pellets to major European power generators as a cleaner substitute for coal.
“Green Circle’s Florida-based production and logistics operations are expected to complement Enviva’s existing operating footprint,” it read.
While the wood pellet business is growing, Neraas said there has been a consolidation of buyers over the last year, which also has led to a consolidation of sellers.
Panama City Port Director Wayne Stubbs said because the transaction was a stock sale and not an asset sale, it will not affect Green Circle’s long-term contracts with the port. The company has an executed warehouse agreement and corporate guarantee with the port, which expires in 2018.
“None of our agreements change,” Stubbs said. “All of our agreements are with Green Circle and they own Green Circle.”
