Ashcroft Homes Group, a group of companies in the business of purchasing, developing and operating residential communities in the Ottawa area, were placed into interim receivership on December 20 on application by ACM Commercial Mortgage Fund, CMLS Financial Ltd., Equitable Bank and Institutional Mortgage Capital Canada, collectively owed $194 million in secured debt.

In recent years, various members of the Ashcroft Homes Group have encountered liquidity issues related to rising interest rates and a decline in occupancy rates, leaving the companies with insufficient liquidity to meet their current debt obligations.

The companies previously obtained CCAA protection on December 5, but the Court found on the comeback hearing that receivership proceedings would be more appropriate for the real property-centric group, who had lost the confidence of a vast majority of their lenders, who not only opposed the CCAA relief sought, but had put forward the nomination of a common receiver to assist with the enforcement of their security.

KSV is the interim receiver.

Counsel is Norton Rose Fulbright for the interim receiver, Cassels for ACM, Aird & Berlis for CMLS, Lenczner Slaght for Institutional Mortgage Capital, Gowling WLG for Central 1 Credit Union, Miller Thomson for Canadian Western Bank, Bennett Jones for Peoples Trust Company, Dentons for MNP as receiver of Ashcroft Homes Eastboro Inc. and Ashcroft Homes – 108 Richmond Road Inc., Dentons for BDO as receiver of Ashcroft Homes – 101 Richmond Road Inc., Ashcroft Homes - 108 Richmond Road Inc. and Ashcroft Homes – 111 Richmond Road Inc., Mann Lawyers for Ashcroft Homes, and Osler for Grant Thornton as monitor.