However, as of Wednesday evening, there had been no official confirmation from London-based Tate & Lyle, according to the office of co-op attorney, Randon Wilson. An announcement is expected today.

The legal and financial documents are being finalized, but the sale was effective Tuesday, Dorn said.

The picture-taking ceremony, if there is one, will come later, said Dorn, who lives in Billings and raises sugarbeets near Hardin.

The Western Sugar Co. has refineries in Billings, Mont., Lovell, Wyo., Fort Morgan and Greeley, Colo., and Bayard and Scottsbluff, Neb.

The sale comes just a year after sugarbeet growers in the four states formed a co-op and completed a financial feasibility study to buy the company.

Wilson, a Salt Lake City attorney who has handled the purchase for the cooperative, said there are some practical difficulties of getting all the paperwork completed. He said a letter will be sent to the growers explaining how the purchase has come together and will include the closing balance sheet and interest rates for loan financing.

The sale price on Western was $48 million.

Last year, Tate & Lyle offered Western Sugar Co. to its 1,100 growers for $78 million, or half of its estimated liquidation value.

In early February, sugarbeet farmers in four states subscribed 150,000 acres to the growers cooperative to buy Western. However, this spring, about 130,000 acres were planted.

Growers in Montana and Wyoming were strong supporters in subscribing acres, but those in Colorado and Nebraska lagged and thats when the co-op asked for a re-negotiated price based on production value.

Dorn said then that there is a mechanism for growers who did not commit acres this year to buy into the plan.