The assets of Naber Seed & Grain Co. Ltd. have been sold and the deal appears to have the blessing of the former plant owner.
The receiver handling the sale of the Melfort, Sask., pulse processor said the plant was bought by a numbered company last month, one year after the business was placed into receivership by its bank.
It sold for “slightly above” $1.4 million, said Rob McMahon of Ernst & Young Inc.
Not much is known about the company that purchased Naber’s assets other than it is called 101044021 Saskatchewan Ltd. and that it was a sale endorsed by the plant’s former owner.
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“Todd Naber supported this deal,” said McMahon.
An earlier attempt to purchase the plant by an Australian special crops firm called J.K. International Pty Ltd. was successfully blocked by Naber. McMahon said Naber raised no objection over this deal.
Since the sale went through, the former plant owner has been sighted doing yard work in front of his former business, fueling speculation that Naber is in some way involved with the new operation. There is no evidence to support that hypothesis.
McMahon said he has no information that Naber is part of the new ownership or management group.
“It would be speculation on my part. I just don’t know whether he’s involved or not involved.”
Naber did not return calls in time for inclusion in this article.
McMahon said one of the principals behind the deal is a Saskatchewan optometrist, but he wouldn’t reveal more about him or other possible investors.
Documents obtained from the corporations branch of Saskatchewan Justice list Brian Singer as the sole director of the numbered company. He is a Regina lawyer who works for the law firm Walker, Singer & McCannell. Singer was unavailable for comment.
Proceeds from the sale went to Naber’s two biggest secured creditors. Farm Credit Canada got $1.2 million, which paid off all it was owed. The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce received the remaining $200,000.
Another $7.8 million was generated from the sale of the plant’s grain inventory and from collecting accounts receivable. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce was the main recipient of those efforts, with $5.4 million going to the bank, another $1.6 million to secured farmers and the rest to pay off “various expenses.”
The only money that hasn’t been dispersed is another $1 million worth of grain inventory that is tied up in a legal dispute involving the bank and other creditors.
CIBC was owed $11.6 million when Naber was placed into receivership in the summer of 2002. The $5.6 million collected on its behalf to date represents less than half of what the lender was owed.
“The Bank of Commerce will have a significant shortfall in this file,” said McMahon.
Another group that lost big is the unsecured farmers who delivered grain to the processor but only received 52 cents on the dollar for it.
Many are still bitter with Naber and the Canadian Grain Commission over that $918,574 shortfall.
A CGC spokesperson said the new company has not yet approached the federal agency for a grain licence.
