Attempts to buy a mothballed canola crushing plant at Ste. Agathe,
Man., are still slogging along.
The group wanting to buy the plant has not secured the money needed for
the purchase. There are also legal issues to sort out between the
court-appointed receiver and the would-be owners, said Clayton Manness,
a former provincial cabinet minister involved in the negotiations.
The crushing plant was mothballed in the late 1990s after Canadian
Agra, the owner at the time, failed to restructure its debts to the
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satisfaction of its creditors.
The plant, which has never been fully commissioned, has been under the
control of a court-appointed receiver for three years.
A group of venture capitalists became interested in buying the facility
last summer and hoped to have the purchase completed by mid-March.
The Ste. Agathe plant was designed to extract oil from canola using
cold press technology. It’s not clear whether that would remain its
primary purpose under new ownership.
Another aspect of the venture could be the sale of canola meal.
There are now two canola crushing plants in Manitoba, both managed by
CanAmera Foods.
