Troubled Dakota Plains Holdings has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy and plans to sell substantially all of its assets to a Houston-based company for $8.55 million, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported today. Dakota Plains, which loads oil into rail cars in North Dakota, has been bleeding red ink while its stock has been trading at less than 1 cent. Six of Dakota Plains' subsidiaries filed chapter 11 on Tuesday along with their parent company in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Minnesota. While Dakota Plains has been floundering for some time, it has been in the news over the past year mostly because its two co-founders — Ryan Gilbertson and Michael Reger — have been targets of a federal securities investigation surrounding the company's initial public offering. BioUrja Trading of Houston has made a stalking-horse bid of $8.55 million for Dakota Plains. In its bankruptcy filing, Dakota Plains listed assets of $3.1 million and debts of $75.4 million.
