As we have learned, the BESIDE Group, plagued by debt and facing a sharp increase in operating costs, is going bankrupt and suspending most of its activities The newspaper.
The Montreal company has been benefiting from the protection of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act since Monday, according to documents filed with the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy of Canada.
In an interview, CEO Jean-Daniel Petit confirmed to the Journal that he had laid off around twenty of his employees, stopped production of his paper magazine (Beside Media) and abandoned his project to build a residential complex. Nature in Outaouais.
Jean-Daniel Petit, co-founder and president of Beside. Photo courtesy of Beside
“The rise in interest rates, inflation and the rise in construction and labor costs” have crushed BESIDE’s ambitions, he explains. “Despite the great success of [notre] As a destination, Lanaudière, the capital requirements were too high to weather the storm.
Claims totaling $15.8 million
Mr. Petit founded this company in 2016 with two partners, Éliane Cadieux and Guillaume Leblanc. Jean-François Bouchard, friend and co-founder of Sidlee, was subsequently accepted into the group as a partner.
According to documents filed with the federal agency, the five companies involved in this matter owe a total of $15.83 million, including $3.76 million in guaranteed debt.
Photo courtesy of Beside
Excluding debts to its own entities, the actual debts of the group are closer to around ten million dollars, specifies Yannick Bourassa-Milot, the trustee in the file linked to Raymond Chabot.
The latter will proceed with the sale of the company’s assets and the distribution of the remainder to creditors in the coming weeks.
In addition, Lanaudière will survive
He will also ensure that Beside Habitat Lanaudière, a natural chalet complex created by the company a few years ago, is retained in this chapter. His chalet rental activities will continue, he assures. These will be carried out under the leadership of a new administration that has yet to be installed.
Jean-François Bouchard, co-founder of Sidlee and shareholder of Beside. Photo from YouTube
“No one goes into business thinking it will end like this,” admits Mr. Petit. I remain grateful for the community we created and proud of what we were able to accomplish.”
The creation of 15 magazines, three books, countless video content, workshops and a festival are on the list of these achievements. But protecting a 900-hectare, centuries-old forest in Lanaudière is undoubtedly the top priority. “It is concrete, it is our heritage,” says Jean-Daniel Petit.
The hundreds of creditors affected by the insolvency problems of several Beside companies (Gestion Beside Canada, Média Beside, Habitat Beside and Beside Habitat Outaouais) will be invited by the trustee to a meeting on December 20th.
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Originally posted 2023-12-09 21:38:24.