Y. Katirai

The court-appointed receiver moved for approval of the sale of the debtor's real property, approval of its fees, and authorization to make distributions.

The debtor opposed the motion, seeking disclosure of the unredacted purchase agreement and confidential appendices without signing the receiver's proposed confidentiality agreement.

The court held that the confidentiality agreement was reasonable and necessary to protect the integrity of the sales process.

Applying the Soundair criteria, the court found the receiver's marketing process and the proposed sale were commercially reasonable.

The court approved the sale, the receiver's fees, and the interim distribution, and granted a sealing order for the confidential appendices.

In CCAA proceedings involving several affiliated corporate applicants, the monitor sought court approval of a settlement resolving competing priority claims over estate funds among pension plans, a U.S. bankruptcy trustee, secured lenders, and other creditors.

The settlement provided for partial distributions to pension beneficiaries and retired executives, with the remaining funds payable to the U.S. trustee for the bankruptcy estates of related U.S. debtors.

The court held the settlement was a reasonable and proportionate resolution that avoided costly and protracted litigation over competing statutory deemed trusts and secured claims.

A related motion by the pension plan administrator sought amendment of the salaried pension plan to implement the settlement distribution scheme.

Relying on its broad discretionary authority under s. 11 of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, the court ordered the amendment where notice had been given and no affected party objected.