Brands International Corporation, NOI

Brands International Corporation, a Newmarket, Ontario-based manufacturer and distributor of health, personal care, beauty, cosmetics, and household cleaning products, filed an NOI on December 24 listing approximately $12.5 million in liabilities, over half of which is owed to its senior secured lender, Canadian Western Bank.

At its peak, the company had approximately 30 employees and additional contract employees through staffing agencies.

At the time of filing, the operations of the company had been put into “care and maintenance” and all employees other than two critical employees had been laid off or terminated.

Until October 2024, the company distributed a significant portion of its products to two large US-based retailers. However, these customers have since terminated their relationships with the company after experiencing shipment delays and alleged product quality issues.

The company states that its liquidity crisis stemmed from the actions of former management, who are defendants in a number of ongoing lawsuits which allege improper financial record-keeping practices, resulting in the company’s financials for the 2022 and 2023 fiscal years containing material omissions and inaccuracies.

The company has tried for months to restructure or sell its business, culminating in a stalking horse transaction with AMG Global Holdings. The stalking horse bidder will fund the company’s liquidity needs during the NOI proceedings through the use of the deposit as interim financing — the only financial lifeline available to the company to conduct an expedited sale process.

KPMG is the proposal trustee.

Counsel is Gowling WLG for the company, Bennett Jones for the proposal trustee, Fasken for Canadian Western Bank, BLG for AMG Global Holdings, Owen Bird for 630 Newpark Limited Partnership (the landlord), Clark Farb Fiskel for Kraft Chemical Company, and Fogler Rubinoff for Dorota Rubinoff.