Canada

Four officials of Concrete Equities, a now-defunct Calgary company that raised $118 million to buy commercial real estate, are under scrutiny as the Alberta Securities Commission tries to determine whether they misled investors, the Calgary Herald reported. Monday, lawyers for the ASC outlined the case they hope to prove, which includes investors who were promised returns of more than 600 per cent and told the investments were risk free, as well as those who weren't told of marketing commissions of between seven and 10 per cent being paid to Concrete Equities.

Fraser Papers got the green light to proceed with its efforts to emerge from bankruptcy protection on Tuesday after creditors approved an amended restructuring agreement, The Canadian Press reported. The insolvent paper producer said the latest restructuring plan won support from 94 per cent of voters who attended a special meeting in Toronto. Votes in support of the plan represented 75 per cent of the dollar value held by the creditors. Under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, the plan needed support from two thirds of the dollar value of Fraser Paper claimants voting at the meeting.

Canada's largest book distributor, H.B. Fenn and Company Ltd., announced Thursday that it plans to file a proposal under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, CTV.ca reported on a Canadian Press story. In a brief statement, the company said it has "encountered significant financial challenges due to the loss of distribution lines, shrinking margins and the significant shift to e-books, all of which have significantly reduced the company's revenues." " D.J. Miller, of the Toronto-based restructuring and litigation firm Thornton Grout Finnigan, said the move does not necessarily mean H.B.

Canadian drug and medical-device maker Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc. filed for Canada's version of Chapter 11 bankruptcy Friday so it could execute a debt-for-equity swap that hands control of the company to certain bondholders, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The filing comes after the Vancouver company attempted for months to execute the swap outside of court, and two days before a deadline to make a $9.7 million interest payment.

A Canadian public-sector pension fund has joined a forestry management firm in a C$415 million (A$415 million) acquisition of Australian timber lands, capitalizing on a failed government investment scheme, the companies said on Thursday, Reuters reported. Alberta Investment Management Corp and a fund run by Australia's New Forests Pty Ltd are buying the timberland assets of Great Southern Plantations, which include more than 2,500 square km (965 square miles) of land in forestry and agricultural regions in six states. The pair are buying the assets out of receivership.

Reorganized newsprint maker AbitibiBowater Inc. filed a motion to dismiss the Chapter 11 case of subsidiary Bowater Canada Finance Corp, Bloomberg reported. Although affiliates implemented their U.S. and Canadian reorganizations in December, the BCFC affiliate was dropped out because creditors of the subsidiary voted down the plan. It was agreed at the time with BCFC noteholders that the subsidiary’s U.S. Chapter 11 case would be dismissed, as would the arrangement proceeding in Canada.

It's the end of the line for the dream of building a world-class metakaolin plant in the Wood Mountain area of south-central Saskatchewan. Last month, Whitemud Resources was ordered into receivership by its major lender, Canadian Western Bank, and $67 million of the company's assets were put up for sale to the highest bidder, The Star Phoenix reported. The Calgary-based company had suspended operations in November after a financing proposal by Werklund Capital Corp. was withdrawn.

Canadian telecommunications-equipment maker Nortel Networks Corp. disclosed a change in accounting would result in a noncash charge of over $2 billion in the fourth quarter, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The company said the charge is primarily related to the recognition of intercompany liabilities between the Canadian and U.S. units that previously were eliminated upon the consolidation of financial results. Nortel on Thursday said it determined the company's U.S.

Pensioners of insolvent forestry company Fraser Papers Inc. voted Monday to strike down the company's restructuring proposal, saying they could not accept a clause that would absolve the company from any legal wrongdoing, the Winnipeg Free Press reported. The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, which represents about 1,900 active and retired employees in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick, says it and other major creditors, including the Superintendent of Pensions for New Brunswick, voted to reject the plan at a meeting Monday in Toronto.

Canada's Superintendent of Bankruptcy issued a warning to Canadians about the dangers of high household debt Friday, adding his voice to the chorus from officials concerned about the amount of leverage the average resident now has, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported.