Bruce Eric Darlington

The Applicants, part of the Lydian Group which owns a development-stage gold mine in Armenia, sought an order sanctioning their Plan of Arrangement under the CCAA.

The Plan, supported by the Monitor and the requisite majority of secured creditors, provides for the privatization of the Lydian Group and the release of existing indebtedness to Senior Lenders.

The court found the Plan to be fair and reasonable, noting that while equity claimants would receive no compensation, this reflected the economic reality of the insolvency.

The court also approved third-party releases, an increase to the DIP charge, an extension of the stay period, a sealing order for commercially sensitive information, and the Monitor's activities and fees.

The Attorney General of Ontario (AGO) objected to fee requests from Emmanuel Village Residence Inc. (EVR) and its counsel, and BDO Canada Inc. (the Receiver) and its counsel, for work performed in a receivership and forfeiture proceeding.

The AGO argued that an administration charge should cap fees, that section 5 of the Civil Remedies Act, 2001 (CRA) applied requiring proof of no other funding source, and that hourly rates were too high.

The court dismissed the AGO's objections, finding that the administration charge was not a cap, section 5 of the CRA did not apply, and the hourly rates were reasonable and previously approved.

The court approved the fees and disbursements, emphasizing the complexity caused by the joinder of receivership and forfeiture proceedings.

The applicant in a receivership proceeding sought approval of its counsel's fees to be paid from an administration charge.

The Attorney General opposed, arguing that the fees should only cover work related to the receivership and not the concurrent forfeiture proceedings.

The court rejected this distinction, finding that the forfeiture application created barriers to the sale of the business that counsel had to address.

The court found the fees reasonable and approved them.

Emmanuel Village Residence Inc. (EVR) brought a motion to increase an administration charge in a receivership proceeding, which had been consolidated with a forfeiture application by the Attorney General of Ontario (AGO) under the Civil Remedies Act.

The AGO opposed the increase and the continuation of a sealing order.

The court granted EVR's motion, increasing the administration charge from $350,000 to $700,000, finding that it would be "clearly not in the interests of justice" to deny payment to the professionals facilitating the sale of the property.

The court also granted the continuation of the sealing order until the property is sold.