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Forest sector financier Forest & Marine receives three more months to restructure

Forest & Marine Investments Ltd. has received a further three-month protection period, expiring July 31, 2009, by a…

Forest & Marine Investments Ltd. has received a further three-month protection period, expiring July 31, 2009, by an order of the Supreme Court of British Columbia  under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (Canada).

F&M Group president and CEO David Hitchcock told the Nanaimo Daily News the company has learned its lessons and is confident it will have an acceptable restructuring plan in place by July 31.

Hitchcock said the downturn in the industry, plus the global economic crisis, cut off much of the company’s own funding sources, forcing F&M to focus on collecting loans and paying down its own debt.

F&M helps to finance 75 smaller coastal forestry businesses. The major downturn in the forest industry has resulted in many coastal loggers being out of work, with many unable to pay their bills. F&M sought creditor protection in March after its chief creditor called in a $13.3-million loan, the Nanaimo paper reports.

“Our business is to lend and a lot depends on getting that money back,” Hitchcock explained to the Nanaimo Daily News. “We don’t see a quick fix here, but we are a viable company and we feel we can show that in our restructuring plan.”