An Ontario court has ended the sales process for Bridging Finance and cleared a path for the private debt company to now be liquidated.
Ontario Superior Court Chief Justice Geoffrey Morawetz approved a motion brought forward by Bridging Finance's court-appointed receiver, PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC), that seeks to terminate a sale and instead wind down the troubled firm.
The move is expected to see investors who once backed Bridging Finance lose as much as $1 billion of their investments.
PwC said in the motion that a liquidation would be the best outcome for the firm’s 26,000-odd unitholders even if they stand to lose as much as 70% of their initial investment.
The ruling effectively brings an end to Bridging Finance after the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) placed the Toronto firm into receivership following allegations of fund mismanagement by its senior executives.
Executives, including former Chief Executive Officer David Sharpe, have been accused of misappropriating millions of dollars from its investment funds, failing to disclose alleged payments made to Sharpe’s personal chequing account, and improper dealings with clients.
