Leon and Ram: a tax split with Yorkton, and the last $171,971.02 to BMO

Two manufacturers operated in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, for more than 50 years, and by 2024 both had their plants on York Road East. Leon Mfg. Company Inc. built scrapers, dozer blades, bale handlers and front-end loader buckets for "a customer base located throughout the world," from a 93,225-square-foot plant on 12.79 acres; Ram Industries Inc. made hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders in a 77,363-square-foot building on 6.51 acres, per the Receiver's Fifth Report, Aug. 31, 2026, paras. 2–3. When Ernst & Young Inc. walked both plants on June 11, 2024, the day it was appointed receiver, it found raw materials and work in progress that "appeared minimal to non-existent at both locations," per the Receiver's First Report, Oct. 11, 2024, paras. 8–10, 25.

Between that day and August 28, 2026, the receivership took in $6,450,180.28 and paid out all but $205,221.02 of it. On September 3, 2026, Justice J.M. Sinclair, in chambers in Saskatoon, approved the receiver's accounts, directed the last $171,971.02 to Bank of Montreal and discharged the receiver on the filing of a certificate, per the Order (Distribution and Discharge of Receiver), Sept. 3, 2026, paras. 2–6. BMO was owed approximately $16,833,889 as of August 18, and the receiver "anticipates that BMO will suffer a material shortfall," per the Receiver's Fifth Report, Aug. 31, 2026, paras. 39–41.

Eighty-four credit documents

The record holds no account of the decline from the companies themselves; the sworn narrative is the lender's. Ed Barrington, a senior account manager at BMO, deposed that the bank had lent to Leon and Ram since April 30, 2010 under 84 separate credit agreement documents, that each company guaranteed the other (Leon up to $5,000,000 of Ram's debt, Ram up to $15,000,000 of Leon's), and that BMO held mortgages on both sites and general and Bank Act security over both companies' personal property. BMO demanded repayment on August 9, 2021, citing exceeded MasterCard limits, missed financial reporting and two builder's liens on Ram's land, and the credit continued after the companies made arrangements. They defaulted again in the winter of 2023. BMO demanded again on January 31, 2024, and a forbearance agreement of March 1 held it off until April 30 in exchange for, among other things, a consent receivership order, per the Affidavit of Ed Barrington, June 4, 2024, paras. 5–18.

At every payroll period from February through May 2024, the affidavit says, the companies needed BMO to let them exceed their payroll facility limits. Fifteen judgments were registered against Leon between August 1, 2023 and May 9, 2024, the largest $104,138.12 in favour of National Attachments Inc., others in favour of farms, equipment dealers, suppliers and individuals. On May 31 the companies told BMO that SaskEnergy would cut off their gas by midday unless paid, and that a corporate director had been paying their utilities on his personal credit cards. A factoring application failed, and refinancing had not come, per the Affidavit of Ed Barrington, June 4, 2024, paras. 19–24. At June 4, 2024 the companies owed BMO $16,604,619.79, of which $13,055,024.72 was on Leon's accounts and $3,549,595.07 on Ram's, per the Receiver's First Report, Oct. 11, 2024, para. 30.

On June 11, 2024, Justice D.G. Gerecke appointed EY receiver under s. 243(1) of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, s. 10-15 of The King's Bench Act and s. 64(8) of The Personal Property Security Act, 1993, per the Receivership Order, June 11, 2024, para. 2.

One plant shut, one kept running

EY changed the locks and terminated the employees, 82 of whom later received Wage Earner Protection Program packages. What management told it about Leon's operations did not give it "sufficient comfort to maintain operations," and Leon was shut; Ram kept running with minimal staff to finish work in progress, bring in revenue and help collect receivables. Collections were minimal at first, as many customers who received demand letters disputed the amounts, describing orders not fulfilled, equipment not shipped and invoices that were wrong, per the Receiver's First Report, Oct. 11, 2024, paras. 9–16, 28.

An invitation for offers on Leon's assets went to more than 250 parties and drew 13 offers from 10 parties, none acceptable for the buildings; the receiver picked a liquidation proposal from Joiner Sales Corp., per the Receiver's First Report, Oct. 11, 2024, paras. 32–35. The court approved the auction on October 18, 2024, and the closing statement records $973,747.71 from the sale of Leon's tools, equipment, inventory and intellectual property, against $120,996.37 in auctioneer commission and expenses, per the Receiver's Fifth Report, Aug. 31, 2026, para. 5(a), Sched. D.

Two bidders for Ram

Ram's invitation for offers went to more than 120 parties in September 2024 and drew 13 offers from nine bidders, none acceptable for the building. Eagle Hydraulic Inc., one of them, returned in November. Through Norton Rose Fulbright it negotiated for its affiliate HWF Capital Inc. to buy the Ram assets and lease the building with an option to buy it "for significantly less than its estimated value," which the receiver refused, and the two sides traded lease terms until December 13, per the Receiver's Second Report, Feb. 24, 2025, paras. 9–31. Days later Parkland Welding and Machine Ltd., another unsuccessful bidder, made an offer; the receiver rejected it for too small an at-risk deposit and too low a price and invited its final and best. When the receiver's counsel told Eagle on January 7, 2025 that an unsolicited offer exceeded Eagle's, Eagle took the position that a binding agreement had been reached in December. The receiver said none had, that the competing offer was "too significant to be ignored," and that it wanted a competitive bid, failing which the court could decide, per the Receiver's Second Report, Feb. 24, 2025, paras. 33–45.

Final offers arrived January 24. Parkland's came through a related company, 102203996 Saskatchewan Ltd., on one condition: that the building and equipment be in the state Parkland saw on August 6, 2024, although the receiver had been running the machines on customer orders since. A week of redlines produced an asset purchase agreement on February 7, the day Eagle's extended offer expired, and Eagle's deposit went back three days later. The receiver preferred the numbered company for a higher price and at-risk deposit, and because Eagle's offer claimed to bind before definitive documents were signed and was conditional on phase 1 and phase 2 environmental reports, per the Receiver's Second Report, Feb. 24, 2025, paras. 48–51. Justice C.D. Clackson approved the sale on February 27, 2025, per the Sale Approval and Vesting Order, Feb. 27, 2025, para. 2, and sealed the confidential supplement holding the offers, the agreement and the appraisal until the receiver's discharge, per the Order (Sealing of the Confidential Supplement and Other Relief), Feb. 27, 2025, para. 1. The receiver had sought a longer seal than usual so the Ram price would not be known before Leon's buildings sold, per the Receiver's Second Report, Feb. 24, 2025, para. 13.

A month earlier, on BMO's application, Registrar in Bankruptcy Alexander K.V. Shalashniy had adjudged both companies bankrupt and appointed EY trustee, per the Bankruptcy Order (Leon Mfg. Company Inc.), Jan. 23, 2025, paras. 1–2. The receiver later reported one consequence: the Workers' Compensation Board had not registered its claims of $15,758.08 against Ram and $9,222.06 against Leon before the bankruptcies, so under ss. 86 and 87 of the BIA they were unsecured and ineligible for distribution, per the Receiver's Third Report, May 22, 2025, paras. 27–29.