Hundreds of small and large businesses across Quebec stand to lose big – even very big – in the restructuring of Groupe Sélection. In all, the real estate giant will have accumulated nearly a billion dollars in debt before asking for help from the courts.
• Read also: The Court of Appeal rejects Groupe Sélection’s motion
• Read also: Avalanche of legal hypothecs on Groupe Sélection projects
This is what we learn from the first documents made public this morning by the team of insolvency experts from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Among them, the names of no less than 785 creditors, involved in more than 984 different service files.
The size of the list of companies awaiting payment is impressive. Of the number, most unfortunately risk never seeing the color of the sums owed to them.
Banks first
Why ? Because of all the companies awaiting payment from the Quebec giant of private residences for seniors (RPA), barely twenty – mainly financial institutions – are holders of secured debts.
However, the total of their debts, reimbursable in priority in such circumstances, amounts to almost $845 million, or 93% of the overdue accounts traced so far in the books of Groupe Sélection and its subsidiaries.
The other 750 or so companies on PwC’s dozen-page list are considered ordinary creditors. In total, the latter accumulate overdue payments that approach $60 million, or $80,000 on average.
Among the big losers
But some companies, considered ordinary creditors, are likely to suffer more. This is the case, for example, of Coffrage Synergy, located in Lavaltrie. The latter faces a shortfall of more than $5.45 million.
The Laval damage insurance firm, Gallagher GPL Assurance, finds itself with a shortfall of $4.35 million. It is, following Synergy, the second ordinary creditor in importance which might suffer, like so many others, from the collapse of Groupe Sélection.
More details will follow.
– With the collaboration of Philippe Langlois, Investigation Office
The debts of Groupe Sélection
- Ordinary creditors – 59 448 138 $
- Secured creditors – 844 697 651 $
- Total receivables: 904 145 791 $
Source : PricewaterhouseCoopers
