by SUSAN MANN
An Ontario Superior Court judge in London has approved the sale of the Mitchell hog processing plant, formerly operated by Great Lakes Specialty Meats Inc., to Canadian private company Sofina Foods Inc.
Headquartered in Markham, Sofina Foods also operates the hog processing plant in Burlington along with 11 other manufacturing plants in Canada and one in the northwestern United States. Sofina is one of Canada’s leading manufacturers of primary and further processed protein products for both retail and foodservice customers. It has branded and private label pork, beef, turkey and chicken products. Officials with Sofina Foods couldn’t be reached for comment.
Judge Alan Bryant approved the sale on Tuesday. Court approval was required because Great Lakes Specialty Meats of Canada Inc. and its related company, 2268204 Ontario Inc., are in receivership. It is the receiver, PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc., that put the Mitchell plant up for sale in June. David Schwartz owns both of the companies in receivership. Schwartz couldn’t be reached for comment.
The numbered company, 2268204 Ontario Inc. owned the Mitchell plant and leased it to Great Lakes Specialty Meats of Canada Inc., according to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Aug. 22 report.
Sofina’s offer to buy the plant was one of three written offers received, the report says. But in total 81 buyers expressed an interest in purchasing the property. They included meat processors, food and packaging companies, hog farmers, liquidators and financial investors, the report says.
No figures were released on how much Sofina Foods paid for the 78,000-square-foot plant, 12 acres of land it sits on plus the equipment in the plant and court records regarding the financial details of the sale have been sealed. But PricewaterhouseCoopers recommended the plant be sold to Sofina free and clear of all liens and encumbrances. The court agreed and ordered the plant and equipment sale be free of all liens and encumbrances. Officials with PricewaterhouseCoopers couldn’t be reached for comment.
Great Lakes Specialty Meats Inc. ceased operations on May 31, while PricewaterhouseCoopers was appointed receiver on June 10 following the court approval of Farm Credit Canada’s application to put it and 2268204 Ontario Inc. in receivership.
The PricewaterhouseCoopers report says Great Lakes Specialty Meats and the numbered company owe Farm Credit $5.4 million, excluding interest, fees and penalties. They also owe $2.1 million to the Royal Bank of Canada, excluding interest, fees and penalties, for leased equipment. Unsecured trade creditors are owed $1.1 million while other related parties are owed $15 million. The report didn’t name those other related parties.
PricewaterhouseCoopers says part of the $15 million owed to the other related parties may be secured but it is subordinate to the Farm Credit and Royal Bank amounts.
In its Aug. 22 report, the receiver said it had total receipts of $3.4 million and it paid out disbursements of $184,830 for the June 10 to Aug. 19 period.
The report noted that accepting the Sofina offer would enable the Great Lakes Specialty Meats and 2268204 Ontario Inc. stakeholders to obtain the maximum amount of recovery of the funds they’re owed. In addition, the receiver reviewed the Sofina offer with Farm Credit and the Royal Bank and they both approved the transaction.
The receiver said in its report it wasn’t aware of any objection to the transaction from any other party.
Despite being in receivership, Great Lakes still faces four charges under the Ontario Water Resources Act and the Environmental Protection Act and the court process continues, says Kate Jordan, spokesperson for the Ontario Environment and Climate Change Ministry.
Jordan says the charges relate to discharging pork production wastewater and pork processing waste into the north Thames River “that may impair water quality,” altering a storm water management pond without the required environment ministry approval and altering equipment or exhaust fans without the required ministry approval.
The charges were laid Dec. 4, 2013 by the environment ministry, she says.
The matter comes up again in provincial offences court for a pre-trial hearing Sept. 15 in Stratford. BF
Comments
Good to see the plant sold . Sofina has been on a buying spree the last number of years .
One thing of concern is that there is a great deal of consolidation happening in the food industry which leads to less competition at the retail end and will likely lead to higher food costs for consumers and less places for farmers to sell their products to also .
Post new comment