Otter Tail investor Bill Gates gets regulatory OK to boost ownership

By Angela McDaniels

Tacoma, Wash., Oct. 7 - Bill Gates' Cascade Investment LLC received authorization from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to increase its ownership interest in Otter Tail Corp. to 10% or more but less than 20%, according to a schedule 13D/A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Cascade Investment and Gates together own 3,406,499 shares, or 9.6%, of the company's stock.

The authorization was received on Friday and includes some conditions, including:

• Cascade may not exercise control over the company or its subsidiary, Otter Tail Power;

• Cascade may not hold any seat on the board;

• Cascade may not seek to set or influence the price at which power is sold by the generating facilities of Otter Tail Power or how or when power generated by such facilities will be sold; and

• Cascade may not terminate its standstill agreement with the company without prior authorization from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, except in certain specified circumstances.

The standstill agreement was entered into on May 1. It allows Cascade to acquire additional voting securities resulting in beneficial ownership of 10% or more but less than 20% of Otter Tail's outstanding voting securities.

Otter Tail is a Fergus Falls, Minn., ethanol company.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.