McWatters Mining Emerges from CCAA Protection

McWatters Mining Inc., a Canadian gold producer, successfully implemented its plan of compromise and arrangement and reorganization of indebtedness and liabilities and of share capital pursuant to the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (Canada) and the Companies Act (Quebec) on April 8, 2002. McWatters obtained CCAA protection on February 14, 2001.

A $47.4 million investment of capital by Soquem Inc. and Soquémex Inc. (both subsidiaries of the Société générale de financement du Québec (SGF)), Sodémex II, s.e.c., the Fonds de solidarité des travailleurs du Québec (FTQ), Investissement Québec and Economic Development of Canada provided McWatters with the necessary funds to settle with its creditors, implement the restructuring and move forward with the development of the Sigma-Lamaque Complex as an open pit operation. The Sigma-Lamaque Complex is being developed by McWatters and Soquem through a limited partnership.

McWatters was represented by Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, with a team that included Brian Salpeter, Nathalie Beauregard and Sandra Gaudreault (corporate), Denis Ferland and Alain Gaul (insolvency and restructuring), Olivier Désilets (corporate/securities) and Claude Jodoin (tax) in Montreal, and Guy Lander, Scott Tayne and Christian Lucky (securities) in New York; Jeff Singer, Allan Goodman, Bill Gorman and Steve Cohen (corporate/securities) and Carrie Smit and Jon Northup (tax) of Goodmans LLP in Toronto; Julie Godard (corporate) in Quebec; and Dominique Morin (real estate) of Tousignant, Morin, Halle, Lafleur, Cossette in Quebec. Michel La Roche of Lepage La Roche provided advice to Yves Vincent and André Hébert of Richter & Associés Inc., monitor of McWatters.

Representing SGF were vice-president, legal affairs, Marc Paquet; assisted by Jean Olier Caron, Louis Clément and Sophie Lizé (corporate), Pierre Langlois and Johanne Vézina (mining and environment), Robert Béland, Véronique Théoret, Jenny Ross and Chantale Leclerc (real estate and banking), Vitale Santoro (securities) and Roger Simard (insolvency) of Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP in Montreal. Representing Investissement Québec and FTQ were in-house counsel Pierre Chartrand and Natacha Bernier, respectively. Henri Lanctôt of Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP in Montreal for Sodémex II, represented the interests of McWatters’s other financial partners. Robert Doyle and Sylvain Vauclair of McCarthy Tétrault LLP in Montreal acted for certain secured creditors of McWatters.