New Century Greenhouses: four greenhouses to auction, and a seventh in Tisdale

When Ernst & Young Inc. went out to the six greenhouses in Redcliff, Alberta on May 6, the day after its appointment, it found the utilities already cut off at four of them. The locks were electrically powered, so they could not be changed without power; the receiver changed the codes where it could, at Smart, King and Sunlight, and noted that the buildings were in any case "metal frames wrapped in plastic material for which door locks would provide limited security." Universal, Sunlight and Smart had not been winterized, and the pipes had burst; the plastic had holes in it. The only books and records on any of the six sites were some vehicle insurance and registration documents, per the Receiver's First Report, July 28, 2026, paras. 9–13, 19.

On June 29 Justice M.E. Burns ordered the companies and their guarantors to hand over the books, down to the whereabouts of twelve vehicles listed by serial number, and consolidated the six estates into one. What came back was partial. On July 10 management told the receiver that every one of the companies' bank accounts had been closed before the receivership, and provided registration slips for the missing vehicles with an indication that all of them had been sold shortly before it. The receiver describes what it received as "largely incomplete," per the Receiver's First Report, July 28, 2026, paras. 27–30. Two and a half months later the position had not moved: the receiver still cannot identify the employees it would need to administer the Wage Earner Protection Program Act, and its attempts to reach the debtors and their bookkeeper for more records have drawn "no response," per the Receiver's Second Report, Sept. 14, 2026, para. 10.

Two sales, and an auction that found nothing to sell

The receiver opened an invitation for offers on June 2, sent it to more than 132 strategic investors, competitors and liquidators, and advertised it in the Insolvency Insider, The Western Producer and Alberta Farm Express. Four parties asked to see the property before the July 10 deadline, and two inspections were completed. Twelve offers or proposals came in from eight parties, per the Receiver's First Report, July 28, 2026, paras. 48–51.

Three were chosen after a round of best-and-final requests between July 15 and July 20. Suntaira Growers Inc., which had been operating the largest of the six, a 153,319 sq. ft. greenhouse on the Sky parcel, under what it described as a five-year lease in exchange for repairing the building, offered for Sky's land and personal property. The receiver notes that the lease agreements Suntaira produced were unexecuted and incomplete. Heli Inc. offered for New Century's 102,994 sq. ft. greenhouse, which the receiver found in "relatively good condition" compared with the others. McDougall Auctioneers Ltd. proposed to auction the equipment at the other four sites on commission, per the Receiver's First Report, July 28, 2026, paras. 3, 14–15, 19, 52–53. The receiver said both property offers were the highest received and exceeded the reserve bid (less fees) suggested for an auction of the real property; the prices sit in a confidential supplement, per the Receiver's First Report, July 28, 2026, paras. 55, 59(f), 62(f).

Justice D.R. Mah approved the Heli sale on August 5, 2026, per the Sale Approval and Vesting Order (Heli Inc.), Aug. 5, 2026, p. 1, and the same day the court approved the Sky sale and the equipment auction agreement and sealed the first confidential supplement. The New Century sale closed on August 17. The Sky sale to Suntaira is set to close on October 9, 2026, per the Receiver's Second Report, Sept. 14, 2026, paras. 4, 9(b)–(c).

The equipment auction came to nothing. When McDougall inspected the four remaining sites it found "insufficient personal property on the premises to warrant an auction." The keyholder told the receiver that some of what had been on the premises when possession was taken, including a riding lawn mower, did not belong to the debtors and had been removed; the receiver learned of it only afterward, and given the value against the insurance deductible has not claimed. At Sky, a scissor lift and a skid steer bucket were removed by a third party the receiver has been unable to contact. "As such, the Receiver does not expect any realizations from the Equipment Auction Service Agreement," per the Receiver's Second Report, Sept. 14, 2026, paras. 13–16.

The four that are left

That leaves Universal, a 29,600 sq. ft. greenhouse with a 1,306 sq. ft. house on the lot; Smart, at 42,312 sq. ft.; Sunlight, at 48,365 sq. ft.; and King, at 48,375 sq. ft., per the Receiver's Second Report, Sept. 14, 2026, para. 3. The house at Universal was occupied when the receiver arrived, in poor condition after an unresolved sewer backup, and the receiver asked the occupants to leave; King had been leased to Suntaira for six weeks a year, and Suntaira told the receiver it had not been properly winterized either, per the Receiver's First Report, July 28, 2026, paras. 14, 17–19.

In the first report a bidder had offered to auction the real property of these four and then lost interest. Since then Suntaira made offers for King and Smart and withdrew both. On King the receiver had accepted the offer and taken a deposit; it then negotiated to return half of that deposit because it had accepted an auction agreement instead, trying, it says, to avoid any effect on the Sky sale to the same buyer, per the Receiver's Second Report, Sept. 14, 2026, para. 9(c)(i) and the Receiver's First Report, July 28, 2026, para. 54.

The receiver went to three real estate brokers. Two sent proposals; the third declined to market the properties but gave suggested listing prices. McDougall offered two auction structures, a straight commission and a net minimum guarantee. The receiver weighed the suggested prices against the estimated auction price and guarantee, the pre-receivership valuations, the withdrawn offers, the condition of the buildings, timing and cost, and reviewed all of it with FCC, which it understands supports the choice, per the Receiver's Second Report, Sept. 14, 2026, paras. 17–21. It chose McDougall's guarantee, because an auction, it says, would limit the number of times it must come back to court for approval of individual sales, and selling the four another way "would require significantly more time, increasing the costs to the estate," per the Receiver's Second Report, Sept. 14, 2026, para. 22.