The lender says those six plants will remain "in 'idle' mode" for about 60 days while buyers are secured for the assets.

The six plants are in five upper-Midwest states and can produce 470 million gallons of ethanol annually.

In a press statement, Paul DeBriyn, president and CEO of AgStar, said the purchase would "protect the interests of AgStar stockholders and our fellow creditors in the lending group".

"That's what the credit bid accomplishes," Mr DeBriyn said.

"Basically, we've taken the necessary steps to ensure these plants will be sold for fair-market value."

The AgStar-led lending group includes 16 financial institutions, and reports it has received "ample interest" in the plants from potential buyers.

"Even during the auction process, we were fielding inquiries from companies interested in purchasing one or more of these six plants," Mr DeBriyn said.

He added that the goal was to have the plants sold as quickly as possible so they could get up and running soon.