stirling pharma - receiver rejects bids

Receiver rejects bids for Stirling PharmaNovember 18, 2011 -7:05pm By JOANN ALBERSTAT Business Reporter

Efforts to sell an insolvent pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in North Sydney have gone back to the drawing board.

The receiver overseeing the sale of Stirling Pharma Inc. said Friday that both bids for the facility or its assets have been rejected.

“Unfortunately, we are not recommending that these bids be approved by the court,” Marianne MacSween, a trustee with MGM Inc. of Sydney, said in an email.

She said MGM received two offers by the Nov. 10 deadline, including one for the plant as a whole and the other for the equipment.

The receiver has been given another 30 days to accept offers, with the deadline for new submissions being Dec. 15.

MacSween couldn’t be reached for further comment.

The 46,000-square-foot plant is located in Northside Business Park.

Stirling Pharma bought the assets of Keata Pharma Inc. in March 2006 for $3.6 million but wasn’t able to get its operation off the ground. Keata had gone into receivership in 2009 after building the $12-million plant and promising to employ more than 200 people.

Creditors are owed $5.6 million, according to bankruptcy documents.

Enterprise Cape Breton Corp. is the largest secured creditor at $2.2 million, followed by Labki Finance Inc. of Halifax at $1.4 million.

The federal Crown corporation is listed as a creditor because it holds the property mortgage. Enterprise Cape Breton did not provide funding to Stirling Pharma but had contributed $6.5 million to Keata.

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http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/34323-receiver-rejects-bids-stirling-pharma