The shell corporation of Washington Mutual has proposed to sell its interest in six venture capital funds to Industry Ventures, a San Francisco firm that specializes in acquiring positions in venture firms. As part of the deal, Industry Ventures Fund V would acquire the stakes for $3.1 million and assume unfunded commitments to the tune of $1.7 million, according to documents filed in the Washington Mutual bankruptcy case this week.

Among the interests that would be sold are positions in Arch Venture Partners, Madrona Venture Group and Maveron, all of which have operations in Seattle. In an interview last fall, partners at Madrona said a sale would have little impact on their business, essentially transferring the stake to a new owner.

Industry Ventures already owns stakes in some of the funds whose interests would be sold. Among the other firms listed are Digital Partners and Arrowpath eCommerce.

Washington Mutual showed an aggregate capital account balance for the funds of $7.1 million as of last September.

The meltdown at Seattle-based Washington Mutual has impacted venture firms. Last fall, the bank missed a $700,000 capital call from Financial Technology Ventures, a move that made the company a "defaulting limited partner" in the fund at the time.

UPDATE: Here's the full statement from Industry Ventures on why it is purchasing Washington Mutual's venture portfolio .

In these challenging economic times, there is an increased need to provide stability to the markets, and in particular to venture capital funds. Industry Ventures’ purchase of Washington Mutual's limited partnership interests in nine venture funds is a signal of assurance to General Partners and the venture-backed companies they support that the secondary market is here to support their capital needs and businesses.  This is one example of how secondary funds are deploying capital and executing deals during a very difficult market environment.