fa Ql wig A14 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, November. 29, 2006 | TERRACE STANDARD gm STANDARD Business R REVIEW POTENTIAL NEW owners of ‘Hawkair, an “Alberta c company ‘called ‘Bar XH. continue’ - to work on details of a Purchase agreement. FILE PHOTO Alberta firm continues bid to buy Hawkair LOCAL. AIR carrier Hawkair, under credi- . tor protection since October 2005, and its potential new owner from Alberta continue. | to work at the final details of a proposed salesdeal:. | Hawkair president’ Rod Hayward had hoped to have a tentative deal signed with Bar XH Air Inc. late last week but said the American Thanksgiving holiday got in the way. -That’s because Bar XH is talking to American companies about replacements for Hawkair’s two Dash 8-100 aircraft if :it can’t reach ‘a sales deal with their owners, Maritime-based IMP. Securing either the IMP planes or finding replacements is crucial in order to keep the company flying. _ As it stands now, Bar XH is offering _Hawkair '$200,000. for its assets free and clear of any other liabilities and $1 to pur- ~~ chase all of the company’s shares. ‘“That price could probably go up,” said’ Hayward of the $200,000 offer from Bar XH. “They’re really at.the stage now of do- . . ing the due diligence.” He said any purchase must still be ap- proved by creditors and shareholders. The $200,000 or other money will have to be divided up between Hawkair’s roughly 60 creditors that have been waiting for a fi- nancial resolution since the airline went into. . creditor protection in October 2005. At that time, Hawkair had debts of more Award winners THE MINISTRY of Children and Families wants to give awards to businesses that en- courage a balance between work life and home responsibilities. The WorkLife BC Awards nomination deadline is Dec. 1, 2006.. — Nominations are now being sought in . three categories: small workplace with fewer eaures et Wightman & Smith insurance helps p rater’ wu than $12 million but as much as 39 million of that was being claimed by IMP for the - two Dash 8 aircraft. Provided the IMP amount can be cleared up, Hawkair could still have upwards of $3 million in debts to be satisfied with the mon- ey it would then have available. Bar XH first surfaced’ as a financial white knight to Hawkair during an October court appearance, one of a series made by Hawkair. The'‘company primarily flies oil in- dustry charters in Alberta, where it also has a contract to supply air ambulance service. It has been looking to expand in the oil industry ,transportation services and the -prospect of. buying Hawkair would give it ~ access to trained pilots and employees ai and aircraft in a timely fashion. Buying Hawkair would also give it % ac- cess to the British Columbia market. Hawkair ‘has been operating passenger . service from Terrace to Vancouver ‘since 2000, adding Prince Rupert and the north- - east later on. Hawkair began running into financial . trouble when the price of fuel and insurance began to rise after Sept. 11, 2001. It also found that the two Dash 8 aircraft it bought from IMP were no longer worth what they were at-the time of purchase and wanted to lower monthly payments to further offset operating losses. It went into creditor protection when its debt and expenses climbed. being sought than 50 employees, medium workplace with 50-250 employees and large workplace for businesses that employ more than 250 em- ployees. A number of other categories will be considered. Entry forms are available on the Web at: www.worklifebc. ca/pages/forum/registra- tion.cfm Meee cm > PRBS ela be miles your heme. Now you can also