The entire real estate portfolio of the financially troubled Groupe Finstar will be put up for sale through a court-supervised process aimed at maximizing recoveries for creditors, a court document shows.

The decision was approved by Quebec Superior Court Justice Luc Morin, who sided with a proposal from receiver Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton to sell the assets and limit losses for creditors. The ruling comes despite objections from Finstar Founder and President Simon Drouin and other parties involved in the proceedings.

Finstar was placed into receivership in April under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act after accumulating debts owed to numerous creditors, including seven institutional lenders and 24 alternative and private lenders. According to Le Journal de Québec, the company’s liabilities tolal approximately $120 million.

Founded in 2018, the company is involved in about 40 real estate developments, primarily multi-residential projects in Quebec’s Lanaudière and Laurentians regions. Its holdings include the Auberge du Lac des Sables lodge in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Que., approximately 20 completed housing projects and a similar number of development sites with the potential for 1,300 additional residential units.

According to the Journal, interested buyers have until Aug. 6 to submit expressions of interest and binding offers to the receiver. Selected bids are expected to be announced by August 27, with court approval targeted for September 18 and transaction closings planned before October. 31.

Terrebonne, Que.-based Finstar and Drouin will remain under bankruptcy protection, with an initial stay of proceedings extended until September. 30. Creditors have until July 16 to file claims with the receiver, the Journal reported.

Pictured: Finstar’s Auberge du Lac des Sables luxury hotel in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Que.

Photo: Auberge du Lac des Sables

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