Atlantic Canada’s insolvent SaltWire Network hoping to survive restructuring process
Global News
In documents filed with the court March 11, Fiera Private Debt said SaltWire and The Halifax Herald Ltd. together owe it $32.7 million, plus almost $600,000 in accrued interest.
A Nova Scotia judge will be asked on Friday to approve a plan to restructure or seek bidders to buy or invest in SaltWire Network Inc., the insolvent Halifax-based media company recently granted protection from creditors.
SaltWire, the largest newspaper publisher in Atlantic Canada, is hoping to survive by restructuring its operations and finances under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), but it will need investors to accomplish that goal. In the meantime, the business will continue as usual.
The potential restructuring could include the reorganization of some or all of the companies that are part of the SaltWire group, including The Halifax Herald Ltd., Titan Security and Investigation Inc., Brace Capital Ltd., and Brace Holdings Ltd.
In a motion filed this week with the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, lawyers representing SaltWire’s principal lender, Fiera Private Debt, are also proposing a so-called sale and investment solicitation process (SISP), which they want overseen by FTI Capital Advisors Canada.
The SISP involves canvassing the market for investors willing to put money into the deeply indebted companies or purchase their assets. If the court agrees, the deadline for formal bids will be July 31.
“The principal purpose of the CCAA proceedings is to create a stabilized environment to enable the companies … to secure financing to continue to operate while the media companies pursue a restructuring or sale of their businesses and assets through a court-supervised SISP,” court documents say.
Fiera, as senior secured creditor, is asking Justice John Keith to extend SaltWire’s protection from its creditors until May 3, and increase the amount it can borrow from Fiera to $1.5 million, up from the $500,000 it borrowed last week.
Fiera’s lawyers are also asking Keith to expand the powers of the court-appointed monitor overseeing the CCAA proceedings, which was supposed to be Toronto-based KSV Restructuring Inc. But an amended notice filed this week indicates the monitor, subject to court approval, could be Toronto-based law firm Chaitons LLP.
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