Ancora Sends Letter to Green Plains’ Board of Directors Regarding the Need to Explore a Sale

Ancora Holdings Group, LLC (together with its affiliates, “Ancora” or “we”), which is the second largest shareholder of Green Plains Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRE) (“Green Plains” or the “Company”) with ownership of nearly 7% of the Company’s outstanding common shares, today released the below letter that it has sent to the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”).

January 31, 2023

Green Plains Inc.
1811 Aksarben Drive
Omaha, Nebraska 68106
Attn: The Board of Directors

Members of the Board of Directors,

Ancora Holdings Group, LLC (together with its affiliates, “Ancora” or “we”) is the second largest shareholder of Green Plains Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRE) (“Green Plains” or the “Company”), with ownership of nearly 7% of the Company’s outstanding common shares. We want to begin by commending the Board of Directors (the “Board”) and management for beginning to transform Green Plains from an ethanol producer to a sustainable biorefinery platform with significant long-term potential. Since Ancora became a shareholder two years ago, Chief Executive Officer Todd Becker has consistently engaged with us to detail the Company’s progress and reiterate his ambitious vision. Mr. Becker’s engagement and the Board’s willingness to enact a subset of our proposed governance enhancements last year have helped Ancora and Green Plains maintain an increasingly positive dialogue.

While leadership’s efforts have created significant value over the past two years, the Company’s transformation still represents a bet on the long-term potential seen by Mr. Becker and the Board. Clearly, the Board was very comfortable continually doubling down on this bet prior to the economy contracting, interest rates rising and growth companies seeing their valuation multiples reset. In 2023, however, the macro environment presents a much larger challenge to Green Plains. This reality compounds the political, execution and operating risks inherently associated with the Company continuing its transformation.

Given the aforementioned risks, and the fact that Green Plains’ underlying value is significantly greater than where its shares are trading today, we are asking the Board to commence a review of value-maximizing strategic alternatives. As detailed in this letter, we believe Green Plains’ initial transformation efforts have made it a highly attractive business for strategic acquirers in the agricultural products and energy sectors.