Canada

Shareholders have been quietly shoved aside in the court-ordered restructuring of Sino-Forest Corp. — and they feel a lack of legal counsel is partly to blame, the Financial Post reported. Last week, veteran Bay Street lawyer Joe Groia agreed to take up the case of disgruntled Sino shareholders, who are furious about their treatment during the CCAA process. But he may be too late.

Troubled Chinese forestry company Sino-Forest Corp., which has been accused of being a massive fraud, said Thursday that its former chief financial officer David Horsley is no longer employed by the firm, The Canadian Press reported. Horsley, who stepped down as chief financial officer in April after receiving an enforcement notice from the Ontario Securities Commission, had continued to work at the company to help with its restructuring. No reason was given for his departure in the brief statement by Sino-Forest announcing the change.

Indebted miner Great Basin Gold on Thursday said it was to acquire a $35-million loan by order of the British Columbia Supreme Court, following its Companies Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) filing made on Wednesday, MiningWeekly.com reported.

Canada's second-biggest hog producer, Big Sky Farms, has entered receivership as the North American hog industry struggles under the bruising costs of animal feed, Reuters reported. Big Sky Farms, based in Humboldt, Saskatchewan, produces roughly 1 million pigs annually and accounts for 40 percent of Saskatchewan's total hog production. Under receivership, an outside party controls a company until it can restructure its debt or be sold, said Neil Ketilson, general manager of Sask Pork, an industry group run by hog farmers.

Yellow Media Inc. can continue its transformation into a digital company now that a majority of debtholders and shareholders have approved a controversial plan to reduce its $1.8-billion debt, the directories publisher said Thursday, The Globe and Mail reported on a Canadian Press story. The Montreal company said it will put the debt restructuring plan in place by the end of this month, but added it’s still subject to a number of conditions, including final approval by the Quebec Superior Court.

Homburg Invest Inc. shareholders may not get a dime following the restructuring of the troubled Halifax-based real estate company, according to new documents, The Chronicle Herald reported. Last October, the debt-plagued company went to court to obtain protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, while Deloitte, the court-appointed monitor, restructured its affairs. The company’s management discussion and analysis sheds some light on what a restructuring means to Homburg and its investors.

Yellow Media Inc.’s decision to sweeten its proposed debt restructuring by offering more to holders of convertible debentures has done little to pacify the incensed group, putting the media company in a bind just days before its plan goes to a vote, The Globe and Mail reported. On Tuesday, the media company struck a much more conciliatory tone that its language in recent weeks and offered convert holders, who own bonds that can convert to common shares, better terms as part of the restructuring.

Shareholders of troubled timber firm Sino-Forest Corp. would receive nothing under a proposed restructuring plan that would transfer remaining assets to creditors, thestar.com reported. A once-mighty company with a market capitalization of $6 billion, Sino Forest is now in tatters as its former executives face fraud accusations that include overstating assets and sales in China. Sino-Forest says it is owed $887.4 million from authorized intermediaries, who operated on its behalf in China.

The Canadian economy churned out an impressive number of new jobs over the first half of the year, but is not likely to repeat the feat in the second half, The Globe and Mail reported. The odds of the unemployment rate falling much below its current 7.2 per cent over the next five months are looking increasingly dim, as economists trim their expectations for Canada’s economic growth to below 2 per cent for the rest of 2012. Signs of the sluggish economy are expected to crop up in Statistics Canada’s employment figures for July, set to be released Friday.

Embattled timber company Sino-Forest Corp., which is in bankruptcy protection, says it is owed half a billion dollars from companies that have been deregistered in China, thestar.com reported. Sino-Forest, which filed for bankruptcy protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act in March, said in a new release Tuesday that it intends “to take all steps necessary” to collect receivables owing to it. It added that it believes the deregistrations, which have the effect of terminating the existence of the entities, were improper under Chinese law.