Another suitor is vying for the assets of Big Sky Farms.
As a result, an auction could be held in January to sell the Humboldt, Sask., pork producer.
Kevin Brennan, senior vice-president of receiver Ernst and Young Inc., said at least one other party met the November deadline to extend the sale process.
Olymel LP had offered $65.25 million for the company, which entered receivership in September, and was selected as a stalking horse bidder.
A stalking horse bid is a way to maintain the value of a company’s assets before a bankruptcy sale occurs.
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However, other parties had until Nov. 9 to submit their own higher bids.
Brennan said Nov. 30 one other party sent the required documents and deposited $250,000 to participate in the auction process.
He could not name the potential buyer, but said the process becomes public at the time of the auction.
The new player must complete its due diligence by Dec. 14 and submit an offer by Dec. 28.
“Their purchase price would have to be superior to that offered by Olymel to give rise to an auction date of Jan. 8,” Brennan said.
“If at any point in this time any of the parties that are participating decide they no longer want to participate, or if they don’t submit an offer which is superior to Olymel, then we proceed to close the Olymel deal.”
Olymel will also have the chance to submit a higher bid after the company learns who is bidding against it and at what price.
The receiver will disclose the players and the bids several days before the auction.
“Then what we do is we declare one of the bids the leading bid and then everybody starts the auction based on that,” he said.
Olymel and Maple Leaf Foods are Canada’s largest players in hog processing, and Maple Leaf recently bought Puratone Corp. in Manitoba.
