LITTLE FALLS  — Shareholders have approved the sale of Central Minnesota Ethanol Co-op in Little Falls.

About 650 shareholders voted in the last week on selling the facility to Green Biologics, Inc. It plans to convert the plant to butanol production. The purchase is expected to be completed late in 2014.

Green Biologics specializes in renewable chemicals and advanced biofuels.

The sale is the end of an era for CMEC, which was established in 1995. The Little Falls plant was one of the first of its kind in Minnesota. It bought 7.5 million bushels of corn annually and produced 21 million gallons of ethanol per year.