The Pre-Filing Sales Process In CCAA Proceedings

In a previous post we discussed how the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta recently authorized a sale transaction after being satisfied with the appropriateness of a sales process that was undertaken prior to the issuance of the receivership order. A pre-filing marketing and investment process may also be used to justify a sale transaction under section 36 of the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act. The most recent Alberta authority on this issue is Sanjel Corporation, where the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench authorized a large and sophisticated oilfield services company to sell substantially all of its assets on the strength of a pre-filing sales process and over the strenuous objection of junior creditors. Sanjel signals a continued willingness by the courts to respect a robust pre-filing process and confirms that the CCAA may be used to liquidate or wind-down a business in appropriate circumstances.