A farmer from Kenaston, Sask., has asked for permission to appeal the sale of the former Heartland Pork barns.
The court is expected to hear his request in Regina June 9.
Greg Rupcich said he had first right of refusal on the 60 acres of land he sold for a finishing barn that was part of East Diefenbaker Pork Producers, one of three wholly owned Saskatchewan Wheat Pool operations sold to Stomp Pork Farm Ltd. last month.
“A deal’s a deal,” Rupcich said, who added he never would have sold the pool the land without a chance to buy the barn.
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His contract says he has “right of first refusal to purchase the land including the entire pig production enterprise at such time as the enterprise is put up for sale or otherwise disposed of in any manner.”
He said Heartland Pork asked him about two months ago to waive his right, but he declined. He tried to buy the entire East Diefenbaker operation, but was told he could not. He asked for other considerations, but got no response.
Rupcich said there was no attempt to negotiate with him.
He said there are others who have either the right of first refusal or other purchase options in their contracts. Rupcich believes most didn’t appear in court when a judge was considering whether to approve the sale because of short notice.
“I was in a tractor on a Saturday when they served me a whole pack of papers for court on a Tuesday.”
He said he hired a lawyer over the telephone, sent him hundreds of pages of documents Monday afternoon and Rupcich’s brother met the lawyer for the first time about an hour before the court appearance the next day.
“I’m just flabbergasted,” he said.
Rick Van Beselaere, the Heartland group lawyer, said the judge who approved the sale agreed with his position that “in a sale of this sort the rights of first refusal do not arise.”
The three barns that were owned entirely by Sask Pool and the four community barns in which it was a major shareholder were granted court protection from creditors in mid-April. The pool had announced in mid-March that the barns were for sale.
The Stomp offer was announced May 7, approved May 14 and closed May 21.
The judge noted that the withdrawal of any property would lead to the withdrawal of the offer by Sterling Pork Farm, a division of Stomp. Court documents said the land affected is subject to security for loans and “would render the exercise of a right of first refusal difficult if not economically impossible without the full co-operation of the lender.”
But some are wondering why the Stomp offer was accepted when it wasn’t the highest bid.
The company offered $22.4 million for the assets and did not assume any of debt. At least one other group offered $25 million and was turned down.
Carrot River Valley Pork Producers is one of the four community owned barns. It offered to buy the entire package in an attempt to get money back for shareholders.
A farmer in the area, who did not want his name used, said Stomp may have a difficult time finding places to spread manure because the shareholders who have land near the barns are angry about the deal.
