Terra Nova Golf Resort assets on the block, as clock ticks towards April 8 deadline
A Supreme Court judge has given the green light to a court-appointed receivership for the Terra Nova Golf Resort, which could help speed up the sale of its assets.
Meanwhile, work is underway to make that happen before the golf season begins.
"There's been good interest and strong interest in the assets leading up to the tender sales process, and that interest continues to be there," said Phil Clarke, senior vice-president with BDO Canada.
BDO is the receiver that has slapped a for-sale sign on Terra Nova. There's a deadline of April 8 for anyone interested to put in an offer. They can bid on the whole operation, or different parcels of assets.
There's been good interest and strong interest in the assets leading up to the tender sales process, and that interest continues to be there. - Phil Clarke
Clarke said it's too early to know what the price tag will be.
"Ultimately, the sales process will tell that," he said.
"That's the whole reason we do a widely advertised and marketed sales process, because the market will determine what those assets are worth. So I've learned over the years not to forecast or guess what the ultimate purchase price will be."
The assets on the block include an 80-room hotel, a resort building and condos, along with equipment to run the golf course.
He said the path forward for the resort will be more clear after that April 8 deadline, and the current focus is on running an open, fair and transparent sales process.
Judge grants court-appointed receivership order
Terra Nova is on the hook for debts of about $8 million to creditors.
The Business Development Bank of Canada is owed roughly $3.3 million of that total.
Last fall, BDO took control of Terra Nova as a privately appointed receiver, at the request of BDC.
The BDC then filed an application to make it a court-appointed receivership.
The lawyer for the bank, Neil Jacobs, told a Supreme Court hearing Wednesday that is the "most expeditious way" of getting all parties together and getting a determination on any potential claims.
At a previous hearing, Jacobs had noted golf season starts in May or June.
Justice Valerie Marshall granted the order being sought by the bank.
The court-appointed receivership involves both the operator of Terra Nova, Sports Villas Resort Inc., and an affiliated company, Twin Rivers Golf Inc., which holds the leasehold interest in the golf course. Parks Canada owns much of that land.
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