On October 26, 2026, bankruptcy registrar Caroline Pelletier signed an approval and vesting order in Trois-Rivières for the sale of Innomalt inc.'s Bécancour malt house, and the business run from it, to 9578-0706 Québec inc. Its schedule sets out what is sold: lot 6 446 237 of the Québec cadastre at 805 avenue Jean-Demers in Bécancour, with the buildings on it, the malting plant among them, and its rail spurs, silos, access roads and loading areas; the equipment, machinery, vehicles and other tangible movables used in the business; the receivables and the inventories; the intellectual property, including trademarks, trade names, domain names, processes, recipes, software and data; the assigned contracts; the permits, licences and authorizations, to the extent they can be assigned; the books and records; and the goodwill, including the customer and supplier lists and "the right to present itself as the successor of the Seller in the operation of the business" [translation]. On delivery of the trustee's certificate, the order vests all of it in the buyer free and clear of claims and charges, save for liabilities the buyer assumes and a single servitude registered in 2023, per the Approval and Vesting Order, Oct. 26, 2026, paras. 4, 8 and Schs. A, C.
The trustee's report describes the buyer as "a company controlled by Préval AG inc." [translation] and says it is ultimately controlled by an individual who is also a director of Innomalt. "Consequently, the Buyer is a person related to the Debtor according to the definition given to that expression in subsection 65.13(6) of the BIA" [translation], per the Second Report of the Trustee, Oct. 21, 2026, paras. 32–33. The company's own motion, whose allegations its authorized representative solemnly declared true on October 21, says the same of the buyer and the director, per the Motion for Approval, Extension and Cancellation Orders, Oct. 21, 2026, para. 34 and p. 10. The price is sealed until the trustee files its certificate with the court.
Innomalt filed its notice of intention on August 12 with Restructuration Deloitte inc. as trustee, and on or about September 4, with the trustee and its secured creditors, it put a sale process in place, as reported here on September 11; on September 10 the court extended its time to file a proposal to October 26. The transaction, the trustee writes, falls within that process and "should constitute its culmination" [translation], per the Second Report of the Trustee, Oct. 21, 2026, paras. 5, 10, 19, 30.
Sixty teasers, four letters, one bidder
On or about September 4 the trustee emailed the teaser to 60 potential buyers and investors that the company had identified with its help. Nine signed non-disclosure agreements and were sent the process terms on September 18, and on September 30 the trustee received four non-binding letters of intent, per the Second Report of the Trustee, Oct. 21, 2026, paras. 23–25. The company's motion adds that it took part in three visits of certain assets by potential buyers, per the Motion for Approval, Extension and Cancellation Orders, Oct. 21, 2026, para. 19(d). The terms sent to the nine required a binding offer to carry no further due diligence and no financing condition, to state its price by asset category, and to provide for no break fee or expense reimbursement, per the Second Report of the Trustee, Oct. 21, 2026, Ann. E, para. 13, p. 23.
On October 5 the company selected one potential buyer for the second phase, per the Second Report of the Trustee, Oct. 21, 2026, para. 26. The motion names it: Préval AG inc., "a company related to the Buyer" [translation], per the Motion for Approval, Extension and Cancellation Orders, Oct. 21, 2026, para. 21. The trustee reports receiving one binding offer on October 21 from the bidder that had taken part in the second phase, and the company accepted it subject to the court's authorization under s. 65.13 of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, per the Second Report of the Trustee, Oct. 21, 2026, paras. 27–28.
Deloitte supervised the process and says it "is in a position to affirm that the SISP was executed rigorously by the Debtor" [translation]. On the relationship, its report says the company "deployed the efforts required to dispose of its assets in favour of a person who is not related to it" [translation], and that 55 of the 60 potential buyers and investors reached in the process are not persons related to the company, per the Second Report of the Trustee, Oct. 21, 2026, paras. 35, 37. The motion makes the same point, and says the consideration under the purchase agreement "is much more advantageous than that which would result from any other offer received within the SISP" [translation], per the Motion for Approval, Extension and Cancellation Orders, Oct. 21, 2026, para. 34.
What the record says about the price
The offer and the purchase agreement, filed as exhibits R-7 and R-8, are to be kept confidential and under seal until the trustee's certificate is filed in the court record. So are Annexes F and G of the trustee's report, which hold copies of the four letters of intent with a table summarizing them, and a table summarizing the transaction, per the Approval and Vesting Order, Oct. 26, 2026, paras. 19–20 and the Second Report of the Trustee, Oct. 21, 2026, paras. 25, 32. The company asked for the seal "because of the commercially sensitive and confidential nature of the information they contain, in particular information relating to the Proposed Transaction and to the valuation of the Purchased Assets" [translation], and said that if the deal were not completed, disclosure could compromise future efforts to put the assets back on the market, solicit new offers or negotiate with other potential buyers, per the Motion for Approval, Extension and Cancellation Orders, Oct. 21, 2026, paras. 45–46.
The trustee considers the consideration more advantageous than what the letters of intent proposed, and calls it "fair and reasonable given the circumstances at issue" [translation] and "superior to that which could reasonably be anticipated in a context of forced liquidation carried out in a bankruptcy" [translation], per the Second Report of the Trustee, Oct. 21, 2026, paras. 38–39.
The three secured creditors, Caisse Desjardins de Godefroy, Farm Credit Canada and Investissement Québec, informed the trustee that they acquiesce in the transaction, per the Second Report of the Trustee, Oct. 21, 2026, para. 40. The motion says they agree with it "despite the fact that they will not be repaid in full by this transaction" [translation], per the Motion for Approval, Extension and Cancellation Orders, Oct. 21, 2026, para. 33(e). The trustee says the consideration should allow their claims to be paid "only in part" [translation], and that subject to confirmation that their security is valid. It has recently retained Langlois avocats S.E.N.C.R.L. to analyze that security and expects the result by November 6. For unsecured creditors, the trustee writes, the transaction will allow no distribution, and they will suffer no prejudice from it "since no realistic scenario will allow the distribution of a dividend in their favour" [translation], per the Second Report of the Trustee, Oct. 21, 2026, paras. 18, 42–43.
The order sends the net proceeds of the sale to the trustee, to be distributed in accordance with applicable law. From payment of the purchase price, the claims and charges on the purchased assets attach to those proceeds instead, with the same priority they had against the assets, per the Approval and Vesting Order, Oct. 26, 2026, paras. 12–13.
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