The Quebec millionaires who are stepping up their efforts to save the colossal sums they have invested in the Huot Group are going to court in order to be able to liquidate buildings belonging to the real estate giant, whose financial situation has become “critical “.
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These creditors are thus requesting the appointment of a receiver for five buildings belonging to the Huot Group, in order to be able to quickly solicit potential buyers to proceed with their sale.
The buildings targeted are Les 7 Elements, Les Diplomates, La Cité M and Les Façades du Mesnil, in Lebourgneuf, as well as the Les Méandres business center, in Neufchâtel, can be read in requests filed Monday afternoon, at the Quebec courthouse.
This is a change of course for the millionaires who made up the “rescue group” of the Huot Group. Since the beginning of this saga, this clan had been working on a recovery plan which provided for the resumption of the real estate of the Quebec giant, and not its sale. They have also invested an additional $15 million to date, out of an emergency fund of $50 million released at the start of the conglomerate’s financial difficulties, in mid-February.
“Rout”
But the financial situation of the Huot Group has “become unstable, precarious and critical due to the now notorious insolvency of the companies held directly or indirectly by Huot”, write the applicants, who do not hesitate to describe this affair as a “disbandage”. .
They point out, among other things, that the active loans on the buildings of the Huot Group amount to more than $900 million, that some 360 legal hypothecs totaling $160 million have been published, that Revenu Québec is claiming $8 million in unpaid taxes from the conglomerate and that the Autorité des marchés financiers carry out verifications in this matter.
In addition, several buildings of the Huot Group are subject to sporadic power cuts, “due to unpaid Hydro-Quebec accounts”. Employees assigned to the maintenance of rental properties are leaving, “in particular because of the disorganized management”.
Intervention “necessary”
“The inability of the Debtors to rectify their financial situation themselves demonstrates the need for intervention on the part of the Petitioners to propose a solution beneficial to all”, can we read in the request.
In this context, the applicants request that the firm Deloitte be appointed as receiver – or alternatively, interim receiver. It is this firm that is currently managing the restructuring of the Transrapide distribution center, on the South Shore of Quebec, under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act.
The motion is due in Superior Court on Tuesday.