Opti shares plunge

The shares of Calgary-based Opti Canada Inc. lost more than a third of their value on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

The indebted oilsands junior closed down 24 cents to 45 cents as more than 29.5 million shares changed hands, almost eight times Opti's usual daily volume.

Trading was halted late in the morning ahead of Opti's announcement that it had hired investment banking firm Lazard Freres & Co. to assist in its efforts to sell itself.

In August, the firm added $400 million US in borrowing to its heavily-indebted balance sheet.

The company has been trying to sell itself for well over a year. It has not yet announced any bidders.

Opti owns a 35-per cent stake in the Long Lake oilsands project, with Calgary-based Nexen Inc. controlling the rest.

Nexen shares closed down 31 cents, or 1.2 per cent, at $24.84 on the TSX.

The companies have had trouble ramping up production from the steam-driven project due to a number of operational issues.

"We believe that there is a high probability that the company elects not to make its June interest payment to bondholders and enters into a corporate restructuring process before the end of June," RBC Dominion Securities analyst Mark Friesen said in a note to clients this week.

John Stephenson, with First Asset Investment Management in Toronto, said in a recent interview: "It looks like at some point Opti is going to be in bankruptcy this year unless a white knight rides to the rescue."

"I'm not sure why one would, given that the reservoir (Long Lake) really hasn't performed as billed. And if it doesn't happen this year, I think they'll run out of cash," Stephenson said.