backKing & Spalding advised Global Clean Energy Holdings Inc. (OTC: GCEH) in connection with a $125 million preferred equity investment in GCEH by ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM). The investment also includes an option for ExxonMobil to acquire up to an additional 25% common equity stake in GCEH. GCEH’s existing lenders, led by Orion Infrastructure Capital, invested an additional $40 million in equity and debt, for a total investment of $165 million. This additional capital raise follows the prior debt capital initial close in May 2020 and thereafter of over $380MM for over a half of a billion dollars for GCEH’s cutting edge renewable fuels facility in Bakersfield, California.
GCEH specializes in nonfood-based feedstocks used for the production of advanced biofuels and biomaterials, and when completed its Bakersfield biorefinery will be the only facility of its type, processing both traditional soybean oil and oil-seed feedstocks as well as domestically grown proprietary camelina (an oilseed) oil into sustainable, ultra-low carbon fuels in California. The $165 million additional investment will help GCEH grow its proprietary camelina business in key farming regions in the United States and accelerate expansion into Europe and South America, and will provide funds necessary to complete the construction of its Bakersfield biorefinery.
King & Spalding’s long-standing and recent support of GCEH’s growth and development demonstrates our commitment to nimbly executing on complex transactions involving fast-moving technology and business relationships for our clients.