October 3, 2013

 

 

On Tuesday (Oct 1) Judge Frank Newbould of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice granted Toronto-based BioEXX creditor protection which will run until October 31.

 

BioExx, at its Saskatoon plant, has tried to commercialise Isolexx, a rapeseed protein isolate, and a hydrolysed rapeseed protein dubbed Vitalexx, while selling food-grade rapeseed oil and feed-grade rapeseed meal.

 

BioExx said creditor protection was needed to allow for the launch of a sale process under the oversight of its monitor (BDO Canada), retain key employees who increase the value of the assets to be sold and maximise recovery for the stakeholders.

 

In the company's application, its lawyers described it as having been "unable to commercialise its technology or conclude agreements with strategic partners who would assist it in doing so."

 

The company and its Saskatoon arm, BioExx Proteins of Saskatoon (BPS), were listed as having liabilities totalling about CAD13.35 million (US$13 million).

 

In a brief announcement on Tuesday (Oct 1), the company's board said that after consideration of the available alternatives, this option was found to be in the best interest of stakeholders.

 

TSX trading of BioExx's common stock has now been halted, a move expected to remain in effect pending the stock's delisting, the company said. On July 22 the company closed a CAD3.5 million (US$3.4 million) deal to sell off some equipment from its Saskatoon plant to BidItUp Auctions Worldwide.

 

BioExx then said it expected to close a deal for its Saskatoon building, land and certain rapeseed crushing assets by the end of this month to Virtex Grain Farms for CAD7.5 million (US$7.3 million). The first sale was expected to go mostly toward partial payment of a loan from its first secured creditor.

 

BioExx in late July hired Ernst and Young Orenda Corporate Finance to explore a possible sale of the company and to do so "if feasible and subject to shareholder approval." In that process 13 different buyers entered non-disclosure agreements toward a possible sale but no offer was ever made, MacDonald said.

 

The company had sought a buyer after a deal with an unnamed "potential strategic partner" fell through. The unnamed partner had opted to favour a lower risk and more immediate focus on other vegetable proteins that are already commercially available, BioExx said.

 

It also said that in July it would still pursue "other existing opportunities" such as a proposed plant in Europe, but wanted to examine a possible sale "while sufficient financial resources exist to undertake such a process."

 

The company launched in 2003 with what it described as a "ground-breaking, proprietary technology to naturally process oilseeds into food-grade oil and proteins, at low temperatures, without the use of noxious solvents."