Northern Sawmills Inc.

In Receivership

Page last updated: February 5, 2013

This page is for information purposes only and you should consult your professional adviser if you have any questions or are uncertain as to your rights or obligations.

On January 4, 2011, on the application of G.E. Canada Equipment Financing G.P.  (“GE”), an Order was granted by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) (the “Court”), pursuant to section 243(1) of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, R.S.C. 1985, c.B-3, as amended (the “BIA”) and section 101 of the Courts of Justice Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.C-43, that appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. as receiver (the "Receiver") of all of the assets, undertakings and properties (the “Property”) of Northern Sawmills Inc. (“Northern” or the “Company”). On the same day, the Court authorized the Receiver to carry out and conduct a sales process in respect of all of the Property of Northern.

In accordance with the provisions of the BIA, a Notice and Statement of the Receiver was mailed to all known creditors of the Company on January 14, 2011.

266 KB Notice and Statement of the Receiver dated January 14, 2011
266 KB Blank Proof of Claim Form

Pension Contact Information for Hourly and Salaried Employees

On March 11, 2011 and August 3, 2011, Financial Services appointed Morneau Shepell Ltd. administrator of the Hourly and Salaried Plans of Northern Sawmills Inc. respectively. For all pension information, employees must contact:

Morneau Shepell Ltd.
895 Don Mills Road
Tower One, Suite 700
Toronto, ON M3C 1W3

Telephone No. +1 416 445 2700

Status of File as of November 28, 2012

On November 26, 2012, the Court issued its endorsement, which among other things (i) approved the fees and disbursements of the Receiver and those of its counsel, (ii)authorized the Receiver to make the distributions in accordance with the distribution schedule outlined in its Supplement Report to its Fifth Report; and (iii) dismissed the cross-motion of Morneau Shepell Ltd.

Status of File as of November 9, 2012

On November 8, 2012, the Receiver filed its Fifth Report to the Court to provide the Court with information with respect to:

  1. the activities of the Receiver since the date of the Fourth Report;
  2. the Receiver’s Statement of Receipts and Disbursements from the date of the Receivership Order to October 31, 2012 (the “R&D”); and
  3. Northern’s pension plans, as certain issues raised by Morneau Shepell Ltd. (“Morneau”) in its capacity as administrator of the Plans may impact on the distributions available to the Company’s stakeholders;

    to seek advice and direction from the Court regarding:

  4. whether the process of the Superintendent (the “Superintendent”) of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (“FSCO”) considering Morneau’s recommendation to change the Wind Up Date of the Hourly Plan and merge the deregistered Salaried Plan into the Hourly Plan constitutes a proceeding as defined in the Receivership Order such that FSCO is stayed from taking steps without leave of the Court;

    and to seek an order of the Court:

  5. approving the Fifth Report and the activities of the Receiver, including the Receiver’s R&D;
  6. subject to the Court determining that the process of the Superintendent considering Morneau’s recommendation to change the Wind Up Date of the Hourly Plan and merge the deregistered Salaried Plan into the Hourly Plan is a Proceeding, directing that such Proceeding is stayed by paragraph 8 of the Receivership Order;
  7. approving the establishment of the maximum amount of the reserve that may be required pursuant to section 81.6 of the BIA;
  8. authorizing and directing the Receiver to pay the Property Tax Claim, the RBC Distribution, the Lucky Star/NWP Distribution and the GE Distribution (all as defined in the Fifth Report);
  9. authorizing and directing the Receiver to make further distributions to the Secured Lenders of their respective portion of the remaining 81.6 Reserve, if any, should the claims under section 81.6 of the BIA as proven be less than the 81.6 Reserve, without further order of the Court;
  10. approving the distribution of any remaining proceeds following the Proposed Distributions from the Northern Property to G.E. Canada Equipment Financing G.P. and authorizing and directing the Receiver to make such subsequent distributions, to the extent further realizations are available, without further Order of the Court; and
  11. approving the fees and disbursements of the Receiver and its counsel.

A motion will be heard on November 19, 2012, at 330 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario.

Status of File as of March 21, 2012

On March 9, 2012, the Receiver prepared its Fourth Report to advise and update the Court with respect to:

  1. the results of the liquidation of the Northern Property (“Liquidation Process”); and
  2. the Receiver’s activities with respect to the sale of Northern’s real property;

and to seek an order of the Court:

  1. approving an asset purchase agreement (the “APA”) between the Receiver and 2308703 Ontario Ltd. (“2308703”) in respect of the purchase and sale of the Real Property, and certain other of the Northern Property (the “Purchased Assets”) and vesting title in and to the Purchased Assets in 2308703;
  2. temporarily sealing the un-redacted versions of the APA, pending the closing of the sale of the Real Property to 2308703; and
  3. approving the Fourth Report and the activities of the Receiver as described therein.

A motion was heard on March 20, 2012 and the Court approved an Order.

Status of File as of September 2, 2011

On Thursday, September 29th to Friday, September 30th an auction will be held by Maynards Industries Ltd. at Northern’s location at 490 Maureen Street, Thunder Bay, Ontario. For further details, follow the link to Maynards at http://www.maynards.com/auctions/industrial/auction_details?eventId=AAKPW100689.

Status of File as of August 12, 2011

On August 11, 2011, the Court granted an order (i) approving the Agency Sale Agreement between the Receiver and Maynards Industries Ltd. relating to the liquidation of the Northern Property; (ii) extending the deadline for finalizing an APA in the Northern Sale Process, as described in paragraph 12 (k) of the Receiver’s Report dated December 30, 2010 to July 22, 2011, nunc pro tunc; and (iii) sealing the summary of bids in respect of the Northern Property from Prospective Purchasers.

Status of File as of August 4, 2011

On July 27, 2011, the Receiver prepared its Third Report to advise and update the Court with respect to: (i) the status of the Northern Sale Process; (ii) the termination of the EACOM Transaction; (iii) the activities undertaken by the Receiver; (iv) the results of the review of the security granted by Northern in favour of its secured creditors; and v) to seek an order (a) extending the Northern Sale Process timeline up to and including July 22, 2011 nunc pro tunc; (b) approving the Agency Sale Agreement between the Receiver and Maynards Industries Ltd. relating to the liquidation of the Northern Property; (c) temporarily sealing the Bid Summary; (d) authorizing the Receiver to release to RBC the GIC Account and the amount of $85,000 held by Northern in the GIC Account; (e) increasing the Receiver’s borrowing limit to $400,000; and (e) approving the Reports and the activities of the Receiver.

A motion was heard on August 3, 2011. An Order was approved for the above matters, except (i) approval of the Agency Sale Agreement between the Receiver and Maynards; and (ii)extension of the Northern Sale Process timeline, which were adjourned to August 11, 2011.

Status of File as of July 25, 2011

On July 14, 2011, PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. filed its Second Report as Receiver in support of a motion by the Receiver for advice and direction from the Court with respect to the applicability of the Wage Earner Protection Program Act (“WEPPA”) to Northern’s former unionized employees. The motion was heard on July 21, 2011 and the Court found that all of Northern’s former unionized employees have an employment termination date of July 6, 2010, making them eligible to make a claim under the WEPPA program.

Status of File as of January 17, 2011

On January 13, 2011, PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. filed its First Report as Receiver in support of a motion by the Receiver for an order approving the Receiver’s newspaper advertisement and teaser necessary to give effect to the Sales Process. The motion was heard on January 14, 2011, and the Court approved an Order for the Sale Process Forms of Advertisement and “Teaser”.

This Web site will be updated as information becomes available.

For more information, please contact: Donna Smith, Telephone: +1 416 941 8383, ext. 14288, or via Email.