The Sinobec Group, a Montréal-based niche aluminum supplier, restructured through proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), with concurrent proceedings under Chapter 15 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code to recognize and enforce the CCAA proceedings in the United States. The process concluded with a court-approved sale of the group’s inventory and certain accounts receivable, and ran alongside an investigation into certain foreign accounts receivable of doubtful collectibility.
On May 26, 2025, the Sinobec Group, as debtors, obtained an Initial Order under the CCAA, pursuant to which PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. (PwC) was appointed as monitor with extended powers, and a case under Chapter 15 was initiated concurrently to recognize the CCAA proceedings in the United States. Around the same time, PwC was advised by a field examiner previously mandated by the syndicate of secured lenders that certain accounts receivable owing to the Sinobec Group, which had been understood to be collectible, might in fact no longer be recoverable.
Following this development, PwC initiated a further investigation and implemented measures to safeguard relevant information. On a motion for the expansion of PwC’s powers, the Court authorized the review and analysis of the relevant documents, further investigation into the circumstances surrounding the collectability of the receivables, and safeguarding and production measures binding on third parties. On September 18, 2025, the Superior Court of Québec issued an Approval and Vesting Order approving a sale transaction between Sinobec Group Inc. and Acquisition Canalum Inc. for the sale of the Sinobec Group’s inventory and certain accounts receivable.
The Approval and Vesting Order was recognized in the United States under Chapter 15 and, although contested, the recognition was ultimately granted, with the transaction closing on November 10, 2025. The matter is notable as one of the rare instances in which cross-border insolvency proceedings under the CCAA and Chapter 15 were combined with a complex investigative component addressing disputed foreign accounts receivable.
Stikeman Elliott LLP acted as counsel to PwC with a team that included Joseph Reynaud, Claire Zikovsky, Francis Blais-Lord, Melis Celikaksoy, and Léa Dumais. Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP acted for the Sinobec Group; Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP acted for the syndicate of lenders (Bank of Montreal, Laurentian Bank of Canada, Business Development Bank of Canada, and Royal Bank of Canada); McDonald Hopkins LLC acted as U.S. counsel to PwC as foreign representative; and Spiegel Ryan acted for the purchaser, Acquisition Canalum Inc.