The former Merit Functional Foods plant protein processing facility in Winnipeg may have a buyer more than two years after entering receivership.
In court documents, receiver PricewaterhouseCoopers said that as of April 29 it had entered an asset sale purchase agreement with a Manitoba numbered company. It has requested court approval for the sale of the plant and property.
The receiver asked the court to seal documents related to the value of the agreement until the sale was closed.
Merit Functional Foods Corp was a joint venture between Vancouver plant-based protein firm Burcon NutraScience, agri-food giant Bunge and former executives of Hemp Oil Canada.
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It ran into financial trouble in 2022 and entered receivership in early 2023. At the time the company owed about $58.5 million to Export Development Canada and about $36.5 million to Farm Credit Canada.
Burcon NutraScience in April 2023 said it and an unnamed partner had put in a bid for the Winnipeg plant and hoped to restart operations.
Court documents show the receiver got an offer on the site in the summer of 2023 but wasn’t able to reach a purchase agreement.
“Several discussions and negotiations took place between the Receiver and other interested parties; however, none resulted in a successful transaction,” the documents say.
