Fueling Growth
A billion-dollar opportunity inspired some resourceful brothers to find a funding shortcut.
By David Worrell •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Brothers Tom and Neil Koehler got into the renewable energybusiness long before being green was cool. Now their company,Pacific Ethanol, is red-hot. When recent changes in California lawcreated an instant billion-gallon demand for ethanol, the brothersimmediately drew up plans for a network of new ethanol productionplants.
Their first plan to raise the $50 million needed for each plantwas an IPO, but that would have taken too long. So in March,Pacific Ethanol purchased a defunct public company shell, allowingthe Koehlers to sell over $21 million in stock to publicinvestors--not bad for a 24-person company.
Continue reading this article — and all of our other premium content with Entrepreneur+
For just $5, you can get unlimited access to all Entrepreneur’s premium content. You’ll find:
- Digestible insight on how to be a better entrepreneur and leader
- Lessons for starting and growing a business from our expert network of CEOs and founders
- Meaningful content to help you make sharper decisions
- Business and life hacks to help you stay ahead of the curve
