Lexpert magazine features articles and columns on developments in legal practice management, deals and lawsuits of interest in Canada, the law and business issues of interest to legal professionals and businesses that purchase legal services.
Issue link: https://digital.carswellmedia.com/i/1511709
40 www.lexpert.ca Top 10 Business Decisions CO-WRITTEN BY AIDAN MACNAB, BERNISE CAROLINO GROUPE SÉLECTION INC. applied for restructuring under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act. As agent for the banking syndicate composed of Groupe Sélection's lenders, the National Bank of Canada filed a competing application propos- ing its own restructuring process with PwC as monitor. e syndicate said Groupe Sélec- tion owed it $272 million and had breached contracts associated with the loans it had taken from various lenders. e syndicate withdrew financial support, forcing Groupe Sélection into insolvency. Groupe Sélection had a complex struc- ture consisting of 137 entities sharing a debt-load of $1.5 billion. Its debt was secured with interests in a massive num- ber of assets mostly held in partnership. The company said COVID-19, rising in- terest rates, and inflation had hammered its business. The syndicate and Groupe Sélection's primary creditors and business partners said they had lost confidence in the debtor's management team and sup- ported the syndicate's application. e Superior Court granted the syndicate application and the syndicate's interim financing proposal and named PwC as monitor. e court cited mismanagement, inadequate financial reporting, lack of transparency by the debtors, and that the chief restructuring officer lacked qualification and independence. e Court of Appeal dismissed Groupe Sélection's appeal. The nominator said that the case sets an important precedent for competing CCAA applications. While the case rep- resented "a unique and exceptional con- text," the rulings confirmed that a court can grant a creditor's CCAA application and interim financing proposal in the face of a competing application for a CCAA initial order brought by the debtor. The decision demonstrates the broad discre- tion held by the court in CCAA restruc- turing matters, said the nominator. DANS L'AFFAIRE DE LA LOI SUR LES ARRANGEMENTS AVEC LES CRÉANCIERS DES COMPAGNIES DE GROUPE SÉLECTION INC. • National Bank of Canada > Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP > Luc Morin, Guillaume Michaud, Noah Zucker, Arad Mojtahedi • Groupe Sélection > Stikeman Elliott LLP > Guy Martel, Joseph Reynaud, Danny Duy Vu, Nathalie Nouvet, Alexa Teofilovic, William Rodier-Dumais • PwC > Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP > Alain Riendeau, Brandon Farber, Luc Béliveau, Éliane Dupéré-Tremblay, Nicolas Mancini, Alexander Bayus • Revera Inc., Desjardins, Fonds FTQ > Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP > Denis Ferland, Louis-Martin O'Neill, Gabriel Lavery Lepage, Christian Lachance • Montoni > Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP > Sandra Abitan, Anabel Semerdzhieva • Investissement Québec > Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP > Bernard Boucher, Sébastien Guy, Eric Stachecki • Laurentian Bank > Dentons > Ari Sorek, Roger Simard • Various companies involved > Astell Caza De Sua > Charles Caza • Various companies involved > Doyon Izzi Nivoix Avocats > Michel Doyon CLIENTS > FIRMS > LAWYERS