VeraSun Energy Receives Bankruptcy Court Approval for Sale of Company Assets to Valero and Secured Lenders

SIOUX FALLS, S.D., March 18, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- VSUNQ | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- VeraSun Energy Corp. today announced that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court has approved the sale of sustainably all the Company's assets. Yesterday at an auction in Wilmington, Del., VeraSun selected Valero Renewable Fuels as the successful bidder for assets contained in the "VSE Group", in addition to ethanol production facilities in Albion, Neb., and Albert City, Iowa. The secured lenders submitted credit bids for each of the remaining facilities. The sales are expected to close during the next two to six weeks.

The VSE Group consists of production facilities in Aurora, S.D.; Charles City, Fort Dodge and Hartley, Iowa, and Welcome, Minn., and a development site in Reynolds, Ind.

Valero Renewable Fuels is a subsidiary of Valero Energy Corporation, North America's largest petroleum refiner and marketer based in San Antonio, Texas. Valero has agreed to purchase the VSE Group facilities for a base purchase price of $350 million, $72 million for the US Bio Energy facility in Albert City, Iowa and $55 million for the ASA facility in Albion, Neb., plus working capital and other certain adjustments.

The secured lenders for the remaining facilities submitted successful credit bids. Dougherty Funding, LLC submitted a credit bid of $93 million for the Marion, S.D. production facility. A group of lenders led by AgStar Financial Services submitted a credit bid of $324 million for the remaining "US BioEnergy Group", which includes ethanol production facilities in Central City and Ord, Neb.; Dyersville, Iowa; Hankinson, N.D.; Janesville, Minn., and Woodbury, Mich. A group of lenders led by West LB AG submitted a credit bid of $99 million for the remaining "ASA Group" facilities, consisting of production facilities in Bloomingburg, Ohio and Linden, Ind.

VeraSun and 24 of its subsidiaries filed petitions for relief under chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware on October 31, 2008. The chapter 11 cases are being jointly administered under Case No._08-12606 (BLS). For more information, please visit www.verasun.com.

About VeraSun Energy Corporation

VeraSun Energy Corporation (VSUNQ), headquartered in Sioux Falls, S.D., is a leading producer and marketer of ethanol and distillers grains. Founded in 2001, the Company has a fleet of 16 production facilities in eight states. VeraSun Energy currently has an annual potential production capacity of approximately 1.64 billion gallons of ethanol and 5 million tons of distillers grains.

VeraSun also markets E85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline for use in Flexible Fuel Vehicles (FFVs), directly to fuel retailers under the brand VE85(R). For more information, please visit VeraSun Energy's websites at www.verasun.com or www.VE85.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. In particular, statements by VeraSun Energy Corporation (the "Company") regarding its chapter 11 reorganization process, including the sale of assets of the Company and its subsidiaries, as well as other statements of management's expectations, anticipations, beliefs, plans, intentions, targets, estimates, or projections and similar expressions relating to the future, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of these laws. Forward-looking statements in some cases can be identified by their being preceded by, followed by or containing words such as "estimate," "plan," "project," "forecast," "intend," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "seek," "target" and other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and assessments made by the Company's management in light of their experience and their perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate. Any forward-looking statements are not guarantees of the Company's future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, developments and business decisions to differ materially from those contemplated by any forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

Some of the factors that may cause actual results, developments and business decisions to differ materially from those contemplated by any forward-looking statements include the following: any failure of the bids for the purchase of the assets of the Company (which term, unless otherwise specified or the context otherwise requires, refers in this paragraph to VeraSun Energy Corporation and its subsidiaries) to be acceptable to the Company's creditors, the Bankruptcy Court or otherwise; any failure of the Company and each of the successful bidders to enter into a definitive purchase and sale agreement for the assets to be acquired; any failure of a successful bidder to consummate the purchase of the assets as to which it was a successful bidder for financial or other reasons; the ability of the Company to satisfy the conditions for drawing on any existing debtor-in-possession financing and to obtain additional debtor-in-possession financing on an interim or final basis; the ability of the Company to operate pursuant to the terms and conditions of any debtor-in-possession financing and any cash collateral order entered by the bankruptcy court in connection with the Company's chapter 11 cases, including requirements to sell assets within mandated deadlines; the ability of the Company to continue to fund operations based upon future revenues and liquidity constraints set forth in existing debtor-in-possession financings and cash collateral orders; the Company's ability to obtain court approval with respect to motions in the chapter 11 proceedings prosecuted by the Company from time to time, including approval of motions relating to sale of the Company's assets; the ability of the Company to develop, prosecute, confirm and consummate one or more plans of reorganization with respect to the chapter 11 cases; risks associated with third parties seeking and obtaining court approval to terminate or shorten the exclusivity period for the Company to propose and confirm one or more plans of reorganization, for the appointment of a chapter 11 trustee or to convert the bankruptcy cases to chapter 7 cases; the ability of the Company to obtain and maintain normal terms with vendors and service providers; the Company's ability to maintain contracts that are critical to its operations; the potential adverse impact of the chapter 11 cases on the Company's liquidity or results of operations; the ability of the Company to continue as a going concern; the ability of the Company to fund and execute its business plan; the ability of the Company to attract, motivate and/or retain key executives and employees; the ability of the Company to attract and retain customers; the volatility and uncertainty of corn, natural gas, ethanol, unleaded gasoline and other commodities prices; the Company's ability to generate sufficient liquidity to fund its operations and capital expenditures; the results of the Company's hedging transactions and other risk mitigation strategies; risk of further potential long-lived asset impairment; operational disruptions at the Company's facilities; the effects of vigorous competition and excess capacity in the industry in which the Company operates; the development of infrastructure related to the sale and distribution of ethanol; the effects of other mergers and consolidations in the biofuels industry and unexpected announcements or developments from others in the biofuels industry; the uncertainties related to the Company's acquisitions of US BioEnergy Corporation, ASA OpCo Holdings, LLC and other businesses, including the Company's ability to achieve the expected benefits from these acquisitions; the impact of new, emerging and competing technologies on the Company's business; the possibility of one or more of the markets in which the Company competes being impacted by political, legal and regulatory changes or other external factors over which the Company has no control; changes in or elimination of governmental laws, credits, tariffs, trade or other controls or enforcement practices; the impact of any potential Renewable Fuel Standards waiver; the Company's ability to comply with various environmental, health, and safety laws and regulations; the success of the Company's marketing and sales efforts; the Company's reliance on key management personnel; the Company's ability to secure additional financing; deficiencies in the Company's internal control over financial reporting constituting a material weakness to be remediated; and other risks referenced from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the risk factors listed in Part II, Item 1A, "Risk Factors" in the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2008, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 19, 2008. Similarly, these and other factors, including the terms of any reorganization plan ultimately confirmed, can affect the value of the Company's various pre-petition liabilities and VeraSun Energy Corporation's common stock. No assurance can be given as to what values, if any, will be ascribed in the chapter 11 proceeding to each of these constituencies. Accordingly, the Company urges that the appropriate caution be exercised with respect to existing and future investments in any of these liabilities and/or securities.

SOURCE VeraSun Energy Corporation

http://www.verasun.com

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