Atcon asks for more time

The Atcon Group is asking for another extension until the end of May as it tries to fight off receivership for several of its companies.

But its biggest lender and a court-appointed monitor both contend there's no hope of salvaging the Miramichi-based firm, according to court documents.

The New Brunswick government no longer believes the Atcon Group can be saved either and supports placing the companies into receivership, the documents suggest.

Atcon, which has already been granted two previous extensions by Justice Thomas Riordon, of the Court of Queen's Bench, is scheduled to be back in court on Tuesday.

In a new affidavit filed with the court, Atcon CEO Robbie Tozer says his company was due to be paid $8 million Monday for work it completed for Shell in Alberta.

Tozer says he needs more time to restructure the seven Atcon companies that were placed under creditor protection on March 1 after Scotiabank called in its loans.

Atcon owes creditors about $250 million.

Five other Atcon companies have already been put into receivership.

If the final seven companies are placed into receivership, Tozer claims that existing contracts will be cancelled, although he doesn't name any of them in the court documents.

No realistic prospect of restructuring

But court-appointed monitor Ernst & Young contends there's no realistic prospect of restructuring the companies and argues it's time to pull the plug.

Although the province has paid Scotiabank the $50 million it had guaranteed last year, Atcon still owes the bank another $49 million, according to Ernst & Young.

Atcon has no restructuring plan, no contract and only 21 employees, many of them working part-time, the documents state.

Tozer has repeatedly said he needs more time because it's important to maintain jobs on the Miramichi.

Scotiabank, in its affidavit, says that's a worthy goal. But it believes the best way to protect employment is to liquidate the Atcon companies and let someone buy the assets and start anew.

On March 22, the court gave Tozer another week to show that Atcon Industrial, can be profitable. The judge had previously granted Tozer a week on March 16 to work with Ernst and Young to create a restructuring plan to save Atcon Industrial and its employees.