Their customers included US trout farmer Riverence and the global aquafeed giant BioMar
The St Louis-headquartered firm said it intends to pursue a sale of its business including or a portion of the company’s assets, while continuing to support its farmers, partners, and customers during the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process.
To facilitate this process, in addition to having the use of its existing cash reserves, Benson Hill has received a commitment of approximately $11 million in debtor-in-possession financing.
Following court approval, the company expects this financing to provide the necessary liquidity to support operations throughout the Chapter 11 process.
Benson Hill says that it aims to continue its ordinary course of operations, such as continuing to service its customers and honour its obligations to its remaining employees as it begins efforts to sell its assets.
“Benson Hill has made significant strides in advancing our seed innovation portfolio by developing soybeans with enhanced compositional traits that deliver value creation for end users and improved sustainable solutions for growers,” said board chair Dan Jacobi, in a press release.
“We have worked diligently to transform our business, including reducing costs, divesting assets, retiring debt, and optimising our operations by transitioning to a licensing model. Despite our efforts, a combination of industry challenges and financial constraints has led the Board to determine that a process under Chapter 11 is the best path forward,” he added.
Benson Hill used a combination of machine learning, genetic selection and / or gene editing to produce a range of soy varieties with different characteristics. The resulting strains contained ultra-high protein (UHP) and low anti-nutrient levels, which reduce the need for processing to concentrate protein levels.
