Western P.E.I. mink farm assets being sold to pay creditors

A mink farm in western P.E.I. that received $4 million in loans from the provincial government is in receivership, and a tender for its properties has been issued.

Silver Hill Fur Farm filed for bankruptcy on March 13, 2017. On March 29, the Supreme Court of Prince Edward Island appointed Ernst & Young Inc as the receiver.  In the documents filed by Ernst & Young, three creditors are listed: the Bank of Nova Scotia, PEI Finance and American Legend Corporation, an auction house in Seattle Washington which provided financing for the company. 

• Controversial mink farm gets $4M in provincial loans

According to the documents, as of March 2017, the Bank of Nova Scotia was still owed $2,663,818.  

At one point in the fall of 2016, the company had more than 80,000 mink, according to the documents. The 2014 loan from the government was to be used to expand operations, which included starting a new farm near O'Leary. 

The owners of Silver Hill Fur Farm could not be reached for comment.

Assets include land, barns

In January, 2018, a tender went out for assets connected to Silver Hill Fur Farm.  It includes about 24 hectares of land along with 29 barns, a feed processing plant, dormitories and large freezers. Also for sale is equipment used for processing.

The tender is open until Feb.20 and being handled by the receiver, Ernst & Young.

A spokesperson for the province told CBC the government is still owed $3,969,013 of the $4 million loan. The government has security over some of the company's assets that are not included in the current tender. The spokesperson said government will hold on to the assets in the hope the the mink industry will rebound and it can get a better price.

• MORE P.E.I. NEWS | High school dropout rate down significantly on P.E.I.
• MORE P.E.I. NEWS | Farm mental health program short on cash, says federation