Alé - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, November 26, 2003 ‘Skeena’s fate now up to top court justice By JEFF NAGEL THE FATE of New Skeena Forest Products now rests heavily on the B.C. Su- preme Court’s top judge and how much time he gives the firm to raise star- tup money. Chief Justice Donald Brenner, who has ruled. in past Skeena proceedings, will weigh arguments in the case Dec. 9. That will be the first chance for creditors - in- cluding northwest towns — to argue their views. New Skeena placed it- self in creditor protection under the Companies Creditors Arrangements Act Nov. 19. Company president Dan Veniez says that was nec- essary to stop northwest towns from seizing and selling off equipment. He maintains he’s close lo signing up investors to restart New Skeena’s mills ° and rehire hundreds of workers across the north- west. But the towns’ move threatened to scuttle those efforts. It will be up to the judge, with analysis from court-appointed monitors at PricewaterhouseCoop- ers, to decide whether Ve- niez’s progress justifies shielding the company from creditors. David Bowra, one of the monitors, says . the pressure will be on for New Skeena’s owners to show Brenner they have the makings of a deal, “I suspect he’s going to want to see some pretty good evidence on the 9th that there is a term sheet subject to a certain: and short time frame that's go- ing to convert to actual cash that’s going to, get this thing up and running again,” Bowra said. An end to creditor pro- tection would trigger a liq- uidation of the assets, If a deal does come to- gether, the company would {era name. “Any remain under creditor pro- tection until it was final- ized and startup money ar- rives. Creditors would then be paid and New Skeena would emerge from protec- tion and fire up its mills, Brenner's past delibera- tions on Skeena also sug- gests he’ll.. be -patient — provided there’s hope, He adjudicated when the operations were put in creditor protection two years ago, granting a long series of extensions to creditor protection to well into 2002 that allowed the B.C, government to sell the company. The monitors, Bowra and colleague Martin ‘Hyatt at Pricewaterhouse- Coopers, also bring Skee- na experience. They were the court-appointed moni- tors the first time Skeena Cellulose fell into CCAA in 1997, Veniez may well be able to furnish some evi- dence of financial pro- press. While there are plenty of skeptics, Bowra says he's seen a draft invest- ment agreement demon- strating advanced talks with interested parties, some of whom have car- ried out due diligence work on New Skeena. “They are working on it,” Bowra said. “A number of parties have looked at it. There have been fairly extensive stud- ies done by external con- sultants.” Court supervision of New Skeena should bring increased clarity and cred- ibility to the company’s efforts going forward, he added. It should put to rest some of the speculation swirling around New Skee- na. One such rumour is that Veniez has rejected in- vestment offers that re- quired him to give up too much ownership - someth- ing he denies. lead. to the arrest and conviction. ‘of the offenders, Crime Stoppers Offers a cash reward of up tof $1,000.00 for Information leading to an arrest and/or con: | viction, If you have any Information call “Crime Stoppera” |: at 635-TIPS that's 635-8477, Callers will NEVER be |: required to reveal thelr name or tastify in court. Crime J: Stoppera does NOT subscribe to call display. yr Call 635-TIPS aE INSURANCE 5 Home & Tenant if co Commercial ® Liability « Jet Boats Stey;. Cee Mobile Homes ® Travel www, soonleyside com » Quiopion (sal it ifote Pxqor ESTEVE Beenleyside = gine 0 -Borwices. Services... 1-800-335-8088 250-245°3232 . Fax: 250-635-3288 | 4635 Greig Avenue, Terrace, B.C. (Next To SAAN) If such spurned buyers exist, they’d now have a chance to put their propo- sals to the court via the monitors, There’s no major se- cured creditor pushing for liquidation this time — as the TD. bank did in 2001. . And with unsecured creditors likely to get nothing in a liquidation, that may mean fewer vaic- es calling for an imme- diate fire sale this time ar- ound. GEORGE PETTY, left, was the main person behind Repap, a former owner of Skeena. He's now a prin- cipal in NWBC Timber and Pulp Ltd. along with Dan Veniez, right, which now controls New Skeena. seeia DDD DE Soc: “Pres met ER UTI Bee TU ed LL Bcc LL execu TO ee TTT ROYAL LE PAGE | aecanieiai ue Royal LePage Terrace congratulates Rusty Liunghh on obtaining the National Rayal LePage Gold Award” | for October 2003. LE: . All Realtors at Royal LePage contribute to the RLP Shelter foundation. umsenel he ES EPS ident’s See GG 322 os 635-2404 Sa LIU ECT Beeeeercess DETR ETE to Royal LePage More & more people are coming 7 STL Meee | Lit meses (CITI Becomes) PLETE LE: PS eee TERETE Oven Roast wa Outside Round Fresh, Grade A, 4. 39/kg w wee wet cH bees a ee ee perf nt Viva Paper Towels 6 Rolls ssi FREE, excludin: m it, enviro levies where no produ: pa ne nol Ona of eoquel ess a ue, (rep, the Cashier; Scan bath tems, Sean coupon, Alar te lowest prica. zor Pacer coupen in drawer. sag - Montclair Natural Spring Water 12x330 ml or 12x500 ML e765 package of the above pa vasa ne! a sp pe ppc mnt ne mentioned Montctait or ‘Gapoell, where apgicabl, ancl receive: anche one of equal or lester value, froe, exc. deposit, envi ion hare eck Movember 2 to 29, 2003 To the Cashier, Sent Sonor Es Foal ota an acre veld 4 Tera keaton fon 56564 74 01566 Wh 56364 01568 levies where applicable, » Present his coupon he cashier aimed purchase Cr for less... Fresh Express Iceberg Garden Salad Product of U.S.A., 1 EE ey Ib 429845 oa Tenderflake Lard Hie exduding deo envio Mott's Clamato Selected Varieties, | 1.89 Litres rez re cernbiret. Wate ontprtrd its Granade iv AN al ales remote rc a one ol equa oF oscar vail, fron, a, depos, ony legs ‘where eppicatte, Coupon valid at Ferace beak hom Horertber 23. (74,2000 To he Chabler: Scant karts Scanvoopon. Ener os foweel pros ter Placa ecu in chews. “5 Mae aac oem ee a peer,