The sale of The Western Sugar Company is proceeding to meet the March 31 closing date.

Rocky Mountain Sugar Growers Cooperative Attorney Randon Wilson said they have between 160,000 to 170,000 acres committed with 170,000 acres projected to be needed for the model to make the purchase a success. Wilson said he does not see a problem in reaching the 170,000 acres with some growers still working on obtaining financing.

Wilson said there is an estimate 1,000 growers that have subscribed to the Cooperative.

He added that the Cooperative feels they can operate the company on 170,000 acres so they can proceed with the closing and finalize financing and other arrangements with growers that might not be completed by the March 31 closing deadline.

"Our investment bankers say they have people on-line and are working fast to get them ready to close," he said.

Holly Sugar

Wilson noted that the Cooperative Board feels there would be enough space in the Cooperative to bring in Holly Sugar growers from Torrington. He said there is a question on whether there is enough interest from growers in Torrington to operate that factory. If not, he said the Cooperative feels they have enough space to bring in the Torrington growers and "help the efficiency of the Scottsbluff and Bayard facilities."

Holly Sugar is a subsidiary of Imperial Sugar who recently filed for bankruptcy. Holly growers have subscribed to a feasibility study to possibly purchase the company but now, Wilson said, there are three different situation involving different Holly factories.

The first situation is the options at Torrington. In Sydney, Neb., Wilson said, growers are in the process of making an arrangement with Imperial to keep the factory operating for another year under a lease agreement.