Poet may bid on VeraSun ethanol plants: report

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Leading U.S. ethanol producer Poet may consider bidding on distilleries owned by VeraSun Energy Corp when they go up for auction in March, the chief executive of the privately held company told an agricultural information website on Monday.

"We are looking at all of our opportunities, you know, VeraSun being one of them," Jeff Broin said in an interview that ran on www.brownfieldnetwork.com.

VeraSun filed for bankruptcy protection in October after locking in expensive prices for corn, the main feedstock for making ethanol in the United States.

Earlier this month VeraSun got approval from a judge to auction seven of the eight ethanol plants it had bought from U.S. BioEnergy last year for about $700 million.

"We're looking at all of the opportunities that are out there, basically vetting those and looking at how those opportunities stack up against other opportunities that we've got," Broin said in the interview.

"So it remains to be seen which facilities we may end up acquiring, but we certainly are looking at all of our options today," he added.

Poet could not be immediately reached.

Both companies are based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Broin has said for months his company is interested in making investments in ethanol production facilities. While most U.S. ethanol companies have suffered months of poor profit margins from high corn prices and low ethanol prices, Broin has said most of his company's plants are managing to squeeze profits because they are highly efficient in turning grain into fuel.