The long and troubled history of the Vancouver Olympic village took another severe turn Wednesday when Millennium Water, the owners of the village, entered into receivership, The Vancouver Sun reported. Under a deal worked out between the city of Vancouver and Millennium Water, Ernst & Young Inc. was appointed as the receiver for the company. The firm will assume control of Millennium Southeast False Creek Properties and the Millennium Water development, the city said in a news advisory.
Read more
Insolvent Nortel Networks Corp. has reported a net loss of $649 million in the third quarter, compared to a $508 million loss a year earlier, as it booked numerous charges, the Canadian Press reported. The former Canadian high-tech giant said it booked $529 million in reorganization costs in the three months ended Sept. 30. The results also included $490 million in non-cash charges related to liabilities for its Canadian defined benefit pension plans.
Read more
Affiliates of Credit Suisse Group and Willowridge Partners are buying Nortel Networks Corp.'s stakes in 20 venture-capital funds, according to a court filing Thursday, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Affiliates of Credit Suisse's alternative-investments group and Willowridge won the bidding for Nortel's venture-capital investments with an offer of nearly $23 million, court papers say. Because the venture-capital interests were already exposed to a competitive sale process, Nortel is asking the U.S.
Read more
Canada's Davie Yards reports that it has obtained an order from the Quebec Superior Court extending the stay of proceedings ordered by the court under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act to January 21, 2011, MarineLog reported. The shipbuilder says the extension will allow it to continue discussions with potential industrial investors, to pursue its efforts to qualify for the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy , and to develop and eventually submit a plan of arrangement to its creditors under the CCAA.
Read more
In the spacious quarters once occupied by CanWest scion Leonard Asper sits affable executive Paul Robertson, finally ready to begin his duties at the helm of Shaw Media, The Globe and Mail reported. It’s the final culmination of a process that started just over a year ago, when CanWest’s TV assets entered restructuring under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, unable to overcome a crushing debt load. On Wednesday, the broadcasting business emerged from creditor protection under new owners Shaw Communications.
Read more
Cable company Shaw Communications can proceed with its C$2 billion ($1.94 billion) purchase of the television assets of distressed media company Canwest Global, Canada's telecom and broadcaster regulator said on Friday, Reuters reported. "We are satisfied that this transaction will generate substantial benefits for the Canadian broadcasting system," Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) Chairman Konrad von Finckenstein said in a statement.
Read more
Bernard Callebaut's bid to keep his company has failed. The high-end chocolate business that bears his name went into receivership in August, with ATB Financial claiming Callebaut owed close to $4 million, CBC News reported. Receiver Deloitte and Touche recommended last week that the company's assets be sold to a numbered company backed by former Callebaut vice-president of operations Brian Beck and a dealer with three stores in Edmonton. Callebaut and his lawyers contested that bid Wednesday, but on Thursday a judge rejected Callebaut's attempt to buy the business back.
Read more
Nortel Networks Corp, the fallen Canadian telecom giant, said on Tuesday it is selling its sprawling Ottawa campus to the Canadian government for C$208 million ($202 million), Reuters reported. Nortel, once North America's biggest telecommunications equipment maker, said the sale is expected to close at the end of the year. The 370 acres of land and its 11 interconnected buildings had been a proud symbol of the company's dominance in its field and of Canada's technical prowess.
Read more
Nortel Networks Corp. Thursday postponed a hearing on the appointment of a mediator to help broker an end to disputes over the cash raised in the liquidation of its global telecommunications equipment business, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Lawyers for U.K. retirees whose pensions are in jeopardy due to Nortel's bankruptcy have petitioned to be part of the mediation, and the company is in talks with them, said James Bromley, attorney for Nortel. The Toronto company and its creditors want to summon Layn R.
Read more
Canada's Adanac Molybdenum Corp, which is under Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act protection, said it will seek court approval Monday for its credit restructuring plan, Reuters Africa reported. The company, which has got extension to CCAA protection until Oct. 29, intends to seek approval from the Supreme Court of British Columbia to increase its authorized share capital and consolidate its shares at a 150-to-1 ratio.
Read more