CanadaBis: the licence is the asset, so the company is what gets sold

The arithmetic that ended CanadaBis Capital Inc. is set out in a single paragraph of the affidavit its founder swore in April: excise duty on the group's cannabis products runs at between 41% and 47% of gross revenue, before provincial markups and fees, and it is heaviest on exactly the concentrates and infused products the company had built itself around, per Affidavit of Travis McIntyre, Apr. 17, 2026, para. 5.

The company paid it. Roughly $15,200,000 in excise duty during the 2025 fiscal year, and a further $4,600,000 in fiscal 2026 to the filing date, per Affidavit of Travis McIntyre, Apr. 17, 2026, para. 9. It was not enough. On March 25, 2026, a letter arrived by regular mail from the Canada Revenue Agency demanding immediate repayment of $5,732,843 in outstanding excise tax within fourteen days, failing which the agency raised garnishment and seizure, per Affidavit of Travis McIntyre, Apr. 17, 2026, para. 6.

On April 14 the group held about $1,340,000 in cash against excise liabilities of approximately $7,621,000, per Affidavit of Travis McIntyre, Apr. 17, 2026, para. 15. Three days later Justice Armstrong of the Alberta Court of King's Bench granted an initial order under the CCAA.

On August 19, 2026 the applicants filed for approval of the transaction that came out of the sale process, and the shape of it is the interesting part.

Four months, 128 letters, one bid

The court approved a sale and investment solicitation process on June 10, running on a schedule that left little room: Phase I bids by July 15, Phase II by August 10, a successful bid selected by August 17, and a closing deadline of October 8, per First Affidavit of Jeffrey Holmgren, Aug. 19, 2026, paras. 13–14.

FTI Consulting Canada Inc., the monitor, sent the teaser letter to approximately 128 potential buyers and investors and advertised in the Globe and Mail's national edition, Insolvency Insider and StratCann. Seven parties signed confidentiality agreements and were given the confidential information memorandum and the data room, per First Affidavit of Jeffrey Holmgren, Aug. 19, 2026, para. 18.

The successful bidder was told it had won on August 14. It is 2208318 Alberta Ltd., and Travis McIntyre — who swore the April affidavit, who is a director of CanadaBis, and who is the Responsible Person in Charge under the Cannabis Act — is a director of it, and an existing secured creditor of the operating company. The process anticipated the problem: Mr. McIntyre was excluded from every discussion about the conduct of the sale, the identification of potential bidders, the evaluation of bids and the selection of the successful one, per First Affidavit of Jeffrey Holmgren, Aug. 19, 2026, paras. 15–16.

Jeffrey Holmgren, a Calgary financial consultant engaged by the company for the restructuring, swears the affidavit supporting approval. He deposes that the subscription agreement represents the best transaction proposed during the process, and that the monitor supports the relief, per First Affidavit of Jeffrey Holmgren, Aug. 19, 2026, paras. 27, 42.

Why the company is sold instead of its assets

A conventional sale in an insolvency moves the assets out to a buyer and leaves the unwanted liabilities behind with the debtor. This transaction runs the other way. The purchaser subscribes for new common shares in CanadaBis, the new and existing shares are consolidated until the purchaser is the sole shareholder, and the excluded assets, contracts and liabilities are vested out of the applicants into a residual company — a reverse vesting order, per First Affidavit of Jeffrey Holmgren, Aug. 19, 2026, para. 30.

The reason is regulatory, and it is stated plainly. The operating subsidiary holds a Health Canada licence to cultivate, process and sell cannabis, and an excise licence issued by the CRA under the Excise Act, 2001. The licences are non-transferable. Structured as an asset sale, the buyer would have to obtain new ones, which the affidavit says would considerably extend closing and increase closing risk — and the company does not have the cash to keep operating while it waits, per First Affidavit of Jeffrey Holmgren, Aug. 19, 2026, paras. 33–34.