Skeena Cellulose Sells Shares

The shares of Vancouver-based Skeena Cellulose Inc. were sold on April 30, 2002 to Montreal-based NWBC Timber & Pulp Ltd. pursuant to a Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) reorganization. The sale followed eight months of CCAA protection and sale negotiations. The CCAA plan was approved by all five classes of creditors by an overwhelming margin and by the B.C. Supreme Court. The restructuring resulted in a compromise of approximately $500 million of debt and included a reorganization under the Canada Business Corporations Act.
Hart, Saint-Pierre in Montreal acted for NWBC, with a team led by Michel Saint-Pierre and Gino Martel. Miller Thomson LLP acted locally for NWBC, with a team led by Martin Gifford (business and aboriginal), and including Donald Risk and Jeremy Chan (forestry, corporate and commercial), John Campbell and Jody Aldcorn (tax), Stephen Ross (litigation, insolvency and forestry), Tony Crossman (environmental) and Mike Walker (real estate).
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP represented the province of British Columbia and co-ordinated Skeena’s sale and restructuring. The BLG team was led by Ron Bozzer, and included Shannon Rogers (corporate), Clive Bird, Magnus Verbrugge and Ken Andersen (insolvency and restructuring), Robert Kopstein (tax) and Kenneth Tyler (aboriginal law). Skeena was represented throughout the CCAA proceedings and sale negotiations by Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP, with a team led by Doug Knowles, Q.C., and including Colin Emslie and Mary Buttery, along with in-house counsel John Sparks.