Bob Mackin
The Vancouver green building products company under court protection owes nearly half a million dollars for building leases to an arm of a provincial Crown corporation.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Michael Stephens appointed KSV Restructuring on Jan. 11 as monitor for Nexii Building Solutions Inc. (NBSI), the group that owes creditors more than $112 million. On Jan. 23, Stephens extended protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act to April 30, so that it could find a buyer.
Nexii Building Products’ Squamish plant (Nexii/X)
KSV’s Jan. 18 monitor report said NBSI owes a total $914,800 for leases in downtown Vancouver, Squamish and Moose Jaw, Sask.
BC Railway Co. subsidiary BCR Properties Ltd. is the landlord of NBSI’s Squamish manufacturing plant and adjacent research and development facility, where NBSI owes $396,200 and $86,800, respectively.
The company also owes $351,000 for its Vancouver office and $80,800 for the Moose Jaw plant.
Stephens approved the sale process to be carried out by Origin Merchant Partners with KSV’s assistance and oversight. March 7 is the bid deadline and closing is scheduled for no later than April 30.
The sale will require approval from the B.C. court and, possibly, a court in Delaware, where NBSI has also filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
Stephens also approved a key employee retention order, after NBSI agreed to provide compensation to certain key employees of Nexii and subsidiary Omicron Canada Inc.
The affidavit from acting CEO William Tucker said several senior executives departed between August and December, including CEO Stephen Sidwell, manufacturing executive vice-president Brian Carter, investor relations vice-president Todd Buchanan and finance vice-president Bonnie Dawe.
As of Dec. 20, NBSI employed 142 people and its Omicron subsidiaries 160. NBSI and KSV drew up a key employee retention plan “to incentivize key employees of the Nexii Group to remain with their respective employers and support the completion of the sale process.”
The court’s amended and restated order, that extended the stay of proceedings to April 30, authorized NBSI to borrow up to US$4.3 million from Powerscourt Investments XXV LP, Trinity Capital Inc. and Horizon Technology Finance Corporation.
NBSI’s Jan. 10 petition to the court said it owes the three senior secured lenders USD$79 million and another $6 million to equipment lessors, trade creditors and landlords. Assets include equipment, accounts receivable, contracts and intellectual property worth a total book value of $69 million.
NBSI markets the proprietary Nexiite panelling system, a low-carbon concrete alternative produced at its factory in Squamish for customers like Wal-Mart Stores Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Starbucks Coffee Company and AECOM. In September 2021, Nexii declared itself the fastest to reach “unicorn” status in Canada, meaning $1 billion valuation.
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