Bedford, Nova Scotia-based SportsClick Inc. has been put into interim receivership by its chief creditor, the Bank of Montreal, The ChronicleHerald reported. Ron Monet, BMO’s director of corporate communications for Quebec and Atlantic Canada, confirmed that trustee Ernst & Young has been appointed as interim receiver for the Bedford firm, which owes BMO $872,000. The receiver will look at SportsClick’s situation and evaluate what steps to take next, said Mr. Monet. The bank claims that SportsClick opened and used HSBC bank accounts for deposits, which Mr. Monet said is contrary to all commercial bank lending agreements, including SportsClick’s agreement with BMO. Earlier this week SportsClick president Jack Ross said he was confident the company, which wholesales licensed sports merchandise and apparel across Canada through retailers such as Ultramar, Petro-Canada and Loblaws, could resolve the debt issue. Read more.
Daily Insolvency News Headlines
Fri., July 17, 2009
Fri., July 17, 2009
Workers at the French arm of telecommunications manufacturer Nortel have threatened to blow up their factory unless they secure decent layoff terms, but gas cylinders placed around the plant were empty, the National Post reported on a Reuters story. French daily Le Parisien said on Wednesday the workers had placed gas cylinders in front of the plant in the Yvelines area near Paris, where 480 jobs are set to be axed following bankruptcy proceedings. In the second threat by French workers to blow up a factory in a week, the paper said the workers had threatened to stage an explosion as early as Wednesday if their demands were not met, but said the gas cylinders were empty. No immediate comment was available from Toronto-based Nortel, once the largest North American telecommunications equipment manufacturer but which filed for bankruptcy protection in Canada and the United States in January. Read more.
Fri., July 17, 2009
A large dairy in south-east South Australia has gone into receivership with debts of more than A$12 million, ABC News reported. The Carilla dairy in Tintinara operates about 3,000 head of cattle and employs about 18 staff. There is another $2 million that is owed to a group of unsecured creditors. The receiver of the dairy, Martin Lewis, has taken over the property - he said plummeting milk prices have contributed to the collapse. Read more.
Fri., July 17, 2009
Despite the string of mill closures and layoffs that have swept the province in recent months, Premier Shawn Graham says New Brunswick's forestry sector will emerge from the economic downturn ready for action, The TelegraphJournal reported. "We see other mills closing at a much more rapid rate in the state of Maine," he said Thursday. "New Brunswick will be in a much stronger position because of the key investments we're making today to modernize and upgrade our mills to become more competitive." Still, given 90 per cent of the province's wood products are destined for the United States, the premier cautioned that the forest sector's recovery is hinged on economic revival in the U.S. Over the last three years, the province has lost roughly 7,000 forestry jobs, according to the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council. Stephen Wyatt, a professor of social forestry and forest policy at the Université de Moncton's Edmundston campus, said the forestry industry in New Brunswick must reinvent itself. "The pulp and paper sector has been trending down for a while and the future for that is very doubtful," he said. "It's part of a worldwide trend. The production of paper is moving to places where trees grow faster like in South America." Read more.
Fri., July 17, 2009
Bankrupt Canadian oil company Oilexco said on Thursday it obtained a court order permitting it to liquidate the remainder of its assets and propose a plan of compromise and arrangement to its creditors, Reuters reported. The Calgary, Alberta-based oil explorer, which filed for protection in February under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, said the net proceeds of the liquidation will be distributed to creditors in proportion to the amount of the proven claim. Oilexco said it expects to complete the liquidation by September 30. Ernst & Young, which was acting as the court appointed monitor while Oilexco was under CCAA protection, will oversee the liquidation. Read more.
Fri., July 17, 2009
Bankruptcy petitions in Hong Kong accelerated in June, surging 89 percent from a year earlier, government data showed on Friday, contrasting with other data suggesting the economy may be bottoming out, Reuters reported. Petitions also rose on a monthly basis after declining for the previous two months. Bankruptcy petitions totalled 1,619 last month, up from 857 a year ago and rising 14 percent from 1,417 in May, although monthly figures are not seasonally adjusted. The annual pace of increase was much faster than in May when petitions rose 54 percent from a year earlier. That indicates the economic situation remains challenging despite recent data showing exports shrinking at a slower pace and unemployment rising less sharply. Hong Kong's economy tipped into recession a year ago and the government has forecast it will contract by up to 6.5 percent this year, although economists expect it to improve in the second half. Read more.
