AgStar Lending Group Closes on the Purchase of the Acquired VeraSun Plants

MANKATO, Minn. (April 20, 2009) –AgStar Financial Services’ lending group recently closed on the purchase of six ethanol plants acquired during VeraSun Energy’s bankruptcy auction. The six plants are now individual LLC’s named Renewable Bio Fuels (RBF) Acquisition II through VII.

“Now that these assets are out of the bankruptcy proceedings, we can move forward with our main priority - selling them to qualified buyers as soon as possible,” stated Paul DeBriyn, president and CEO of AgStar Financial Services. “We want to see these plants buying and grinding corn and producing ethanol.”

AgStar continues to receive ample interest in the plants from potential buyers and is working to market them to qualified buyers either individually or packaged in groups. “Our objective is to protect the interests of our stockholders and get these plants in the hands of better-capitalized owners as quickly as possible,” stated DeBriyn. “We have been pleased with the amount of interest we’ve received and continue to hear from interested buyers every day.” These six state-of-the-art plants are located in five upper-Midwest states and are capable of producing 470 million gallons of ethanol annually.

Most recently, AgStar’s lending group announced that ICM, Inc. was retained to oversee plant operations. ICM will maintain a positive environment ensuring all the plants are kept in top condition in their present status until they are sold. ICM is also providing human resource services to plant personnel during this transition period.

About AgStar:
AgStar Financial Services, ACA, headquartered in Mankato, Minn., employs more than 550 full-time team members. The company is part of the national Farm Credit System and has a public mission to serve 69 counties in Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin. The company has expertise in the corn, soybean, swine, dairy and bio-energy industries. AgStar has developed successful programs in loans, leases, crop insurance, tax services, accounting, consulting and rural home mortgages. As a value-added financial services cooperative, AgStar allocates patronage dividends to its 13,000 stockholders.

Contact: Heather Leiferman
Heather.Leiferman@AgStar.com
507-529-2087

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