The clothing retailer Le Château, which has been in financial trouble for years, has announced the sale of its intellectual property and “certain other assets” to a Toronto company.
After obtaining authorization from the Quebec Supreme Court to do so on Tuesday, the Quebec retailer on Friday concluded the final sale of its assets to Ontario YM. He confirmed the announcement in a press release at noon on Friday.
As per the asset purchase agreement we were able to reference, the sale amount is $5.25 million. In principle, the proceeds of the transaction should be redistributed among the creditors of the company.
Nearly 130 million dollars in debt
According to a preliminary report released a week after the company filed for protection under the Corporate Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) in October, the retailer has accumulated $128.9 million in debt.
Of the total, $109.9 million was owed to secured creditors. Chief among them: Wells Fargo Capital Finance, with a staggering $59.4 million deficit.
The controller named in the file, PricewaterhouseCoopers, never contacted us again. The same applies to the management of the palace who, according to his spokesperson, was not available on Friday to answer our questions.
Sixty years of history
Founded in Montreal in 1959 by Herschell H. Segal – to whom we also owe DavidsTea – Le Château announced the end of its activities in October, at the same time that it was shielded from it all. Shortly thereafter, the company began the process of soliciting the sale of its assets.
Toronto-based YM is a privately held company of Cosa-Nova Fashions, a limited partnership owned by its president, Michael Goldgroup. YM owns dozens of popular brands and retailers, including Urban Planet, West 49, Stitches, Aeropostale, and Suzy Shier.
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