NEWS PHOTO ANNA SMITH
The Medicine Hat Lodge could be sold to a new owner by summer as a court-appointed receivers plans to how-best clear up debts of owner Mayfield Investments.
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The Medicine Hat Lodge could be sold to a new owner by summer as a court-appointed receivers plans to how-best clear up debts of owner, Mayfield Investments – a process that could now include shares in the local Copper Coulee Casino and another in Camrose.
That comes after local investors attempted to pre-emptively acquire Mayfield’s 50 per cent stake of the Lodge-based casino, court documents state.
“We can now confirm that the receiver intends to include these assets in its sales process,” stated lawyers for receiver Ernst & Young in response to an unsolicited offer last month from local businessman Albert Stark and Western Canadian Hotel magnate Cam Christianson.
Each man owns a 25-per cent stake in the local casino, and attempted to use a “withdrawal” clause in their shareholders agreement between the men and Mayfield dating from 2017 according to a lawyer’s letter sent on Dec. 20.
That agreement, argued lawyers from Ernst and Young, is subject to a stay as courts and parties determine next steps.
New court documents also state Ernst & Young, plans to initiate a marketing plan for the assets on Feb. 3, toward bid deadlines in March and May, ahead of potential court approval in June.
Mayfield was forced into court-creditor protection last fall when it missed deadlines to refinance more than $30 million owed to Alberta Treasury Branch. Since then, a trustee has continued to operate the businesses to benefit partners and in order to improve prospects of a sale.
That includes the Lodge, the Camrose Resort Casino Hotel, shares in the Camrose casino, majority stake in Mayfield’s Stage West Dinner Theatre brand and facility in Calgary, and half the shares in the Copper Coulee Casino.
That enterprise, still technically known as former operating name Vanshaw, is half owned by the Stark-Christianson partnership through a numbered company.
The value of the offer is redacted in the publicly available monitor’s report and will be subject to a hearing for a sealing order on Jan. 27 at Court of King’s Bench in Edmonton.
“In the receiver’s view this is commercially sensitive information that could, if disclosed, negatively impact the Receiver’s ability to maximize value for Mayfield’s shares in (Numbered company denoting Vanshaw) and otherwise negatively impact the integrity of the Receiver’s efforts to sell this asset,” the report reads.
Stark told the News in the fall that he was interested in purchasing Mayfield’s 50 per cent share in Vanshaw
The recent monitor’s report also states that business is continuing and it has made headway on several issues.
In Medicine Hat, all employees, except top Mayfield officials which were relieved, have been retained and have been paid routinely, a new utility with the City of Medicine Hat has been negotiated, and a number of signs at the hotel facing Dunmore Road have been repaired.
