Investors wondering if and when they will ever see any of the money they invested with the League group of companies have been told they will have to wait until May to find out.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, the monitor overseeing League’s restructuring efforts, estimates a plan of arrangement to deal with the property company’s creditors and investors will not be developed and approved by the courts until spring.
More than 3,000 investors have pumped about $360 million into various League investment properties, while secured creditors are owed $186 million and unsecured creditors are owed another $84 million.
The monitor has already suggested in a report to the court that investors could face substantial losses.
The question about recouping investments was one of nine frequently asked questions included in a list published by the monitor this week. The monitor said it decided to put together the list because of the volume of inquiries.
Since League opted for court-monitored protection under the Companie’s Creditors Arrangement Act in October, the monitor and the legal counsel representing investors have dealt with thousands of calls and emails from concerned investors and creditors looking for information about League’s finances.
One question on the list was how much investors could expect to get back.
The answer was to once again wait for the plan of arrangement.
“League and the monitor are working to develop recovery estimates for the creditors and investors. However, a plan may be structured to include payments of cash or other consideration [such as new debt or equity] in various League entities that are expected to continue in business following completion of the plan,” the monitor wrote.
The list answered questions about how to file a claim against League by noting the monitor expects to get approval from the courts in late January to start a claim process.
At that point, creditors will be expected to file a proof-of-claim form with supporting documentation with the monitor.
Investors will receive a claim package that includes a list of their investments.
Investors who agree the information is accurate don’t need to do anything more, though investors who dispute the records will have to file a proof-of-claim form with documentation.
The frequently asked questions list also included a question about investments that were not included in the Company’s Creditors Arrangement Act proceedings.
There were 65 entities under the League banner not included in the process. Those investors were told they can still contact League to ask about those funds.
A question of when RRIF or hardship payments would be made by League was met with a sobering answer.
League has been precluded from making any of those payments as the funds the company has borrowed to keep things running through the CCAA process were approved only for limited activity.
Investors who asked about their holdings inside RRIFs and RRSPs and have been attracting fees from the trust company holding them were told there has been no agreement to waive certain fees and they should contact the trust company directly to verify the treatment of the fees for their account.
A question about having the monitor publish a list of investors so they could contact each other was met with concerns over privacy issues.
However, the monitor reported the legal representative for investors is developing a consent form they can complete to permit the release of their information. That form is expected to be posted in January.
The monitor has said it will update the list of questions once a month through the CCAA process.
The monitor is also working on a list of tax questions to address in more detail questions about RRIF payments, 2013 tax slips and eligible losses.
That list is also expected in January.
Early in the new year, the monitor expects some of League’s property assets to hit the open market.
Listing agreements for 13 of 18 properties were to be signed with commercial real estate outfits Colliers International and Cushman & Wakefield before the end of this month.
Five properties are being held off the market for the time being in the hope their value will increase with time.
The selloff is part of the compromise reached by League, the majority of its secured creditors and the counsel acting on behalf of investors.
The court has imposed a deadline for property sales of June 28, at which point secured lenders can exercise their rights to the property.
