Roberts Company Canada Limited

Roberts Company Canada Limited, a Brampton, Ontario-based company in the business of manufacturing, marketing, and distributing flooring products, obtained protection under the CCAA on June 29, listing approximately $40.5 million in liabilities and $30.2 million in assets. For several years, the company operated a profitable business that principally manufactured and sold its products to large Canadian retailers. In 2018, in order to expand its sales distribution channels and diversity its customer base, the company acquired substantially all of the Canada-based assets of the trading product sales division of Kraus Brands ("TPS Business"). However, the benefits the company believed it would accrue from this acquisition have not materialized, and the TPS Business has incurred substantial losses since the company acquired it. Between March and April, the TPS Business had pre-tax net losses of approximately $1.2 million. The COVID-19 pandemic has further complicated the company's efforts to mitigate such losses. QEP, which indirectly owns the company, is no longer willing to provide it with financial assistance absent a significant restructuring. Richter was appointed monitor. Counsel is Bennett Jones for the company, BLG for the monitor, and Norton Rose Fulbright for the Bank of America, a secured party.