VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 4, 2020 /CNW/ - UrtheCast Corp. (TSX: UR) ("UrtheCast" or the "Company") was granted an initial order (the "Initial Order") today pursuant to the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (the "CCAA") by the Supreme Court of British Columbia on application by the Company seeking court protection from its creditors to allow it to pursue a restructuring of its business and property as a going concern.
Pursuant to the Initial Order, Ernst & Young Inc. was appointed as monitor (the "Monitor") in the CCAA proceeding and will assist the Company in creating a restructuring plan, which is anticipated to include, among other things, (i) immediately commencing a sale and investment solicitation process (a "SISP"), to be overseen by the Monitor, that would seek to monetize the Company's core and non-core assets, (ii) finalizing interim financing arrangements in order to obtain short term liquidity, (iii) continuing the performance improvement initiatives already commenced to streamline and focus the go-forward operations of the Company and its subsidiaries and (iv) pursuing discussions with potential financiers in order to secure long-term funding for the projects that may form the basis of the UrtheCast Group's go-forward business (subject to the SISP), all under the supervision of the Court and with the assistance of the Monitor.
The financial difficulties experienced by UrtheCast have been primarily caused by delays in meeting the funding requirements for development of the Company's UrtheDaily project and delays in completing the engineering contract for the Company's OptiSAR project. These financial difficulties were further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has negatively impacted financing discussions with investors for the UrtheDaily project, sales, the collection of receivables from customers, and timely completion of milestones under UrtheCast's engineering and services contracts.
The board of directors of the Company (the "Board") extensively considered a range of other alternatives and ultimately concluded that there is no reasonable expectation that UrtheCast's financial condition will improve absent the restructuring proceedings. The Board was unanimous in its decision to file for court protection and explore a restructuring pursuant to the CCAA.
Trading in UrtheCast's common shares (the "Common Shares") on the Toronto Stock Exchange (the "TSX") has been halted and the Company expects that, as a result of having filed for protection under the CCAA, the Common Shares may be delisted from trading on the TSX.
About UrtheCast
UrtheCast Corp. is a Vancouver-based technology company that serves the rapidly growing and evolving geospatial and geo-analytics markets with a wide range of information-rich products and services.
For more information, visit UrtheCast's website at www.urthecast.com.
Forward Looking Information
This release contains certain information which, as presented, constitutes "forward-looking information" or "forward-oriented financial information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information involves statements that relate to future events and often addresses expected future business and financial performance, containing words such as "anticipate", "plan", "explore" and "expect", statements that an action or event "may", "should" or "will" be taken or occur, or other similar expressions and includes, but is not limited to, statements regarding (i) the Company's restructuring plan; (ii) the SISP process; (iii) future interim financing arrangements of the Company; (iv) the Company's performance improvement initiatives; (v) the Company's long-term funding prospects; and (vi) the potential delisting of the Company's shares. Such statements reflect UrtheCast's current views with respect to future events. Such statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by UrtheCast as at the date of this press release, are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors could cause UrtheCast's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. UrtheCast cautions readers that should certain risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying estimates or assumptions prove incorrect, actual results, performance or achievements may vary significantly from those expected. There can be no assurance that the actual strategies, results, performance, events or activities anticipated by the Company will be realized or, even if substantially realized, that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, the Company.
UrtheCast undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements except as required by Canadian securities laws. Readers are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements.
SOURCE UrtheCast Corp.
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