SANDRA M STANWAY
Brooks Bulletin
Royal Helium has filed for protection under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA) to allow it time to restructure its debts and negotiate with its creditors.
“The Company has been actively pursuing an out-of-court restructuring solution which included, among other things, initiatives to raise additional capital to meet working capital needs, creditor obligations and fund engineering requirements to appropriately re-commission the Steveville Helium Facility,” according to Newsfile.
“Following such review and after careful consideration of all available alternatives, and consultation with counsel, the board of directors of the Company determined that it is in the best interests of the Company and its stakeholders to file for protection under the BIA.”
The BIA means the company will have a stay of proceedings and the appointment of Doane Grant Thornton as the proposal trustee.
During restructuring Shayne Neigum, the company’s vp of geology and the acting COO resigned to pursue other interests.
The company officially opened the world’s first helium purification plant in Steveville in 2023 to a lot pomp and circumstance that included Alberta premier Danielle Smith.
The company was expecting to produce 15 million cubic feet of raw gas from wells.
They stated they had a three-year purchase commitment to major North American aerospace and launch industries at an average price of $538 per thousand cubic feet of helium.
Since its opening the company stock has fluctuated in trade from about 46-cents to two-cents.
Over the Christmas holidays the company reported that they had a theft of highly specialized, expensive pieces of equipment. Suspect(s) gained access into a building through a hole they had cut.
