Insolvency | The court grants a stay to Cinémas Guzzo

Guzzo Cinemas obtain a reprieve of a few days. A judge agreed to postpone the hearing until November 19 to hear CIBC, which is requesting receivership and wishes to liquidate the group in the coming weeks.

Until then, the Superior Court has issued a safeguard order which prevents the largest independent owner of theaters in Quebec from carrying out any transaction, “except with regard to normal operations of catering and operating cinemas”.

CIBC, its largest creditor, is demanding $38 million from Guzzo, who plans to contest the bank’s demand.

In its request under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA), the financial institution says it announced to the group in August 2023 that it intended to cut its ties with it, after procedures taken by the City of Laval to recover unpaid taxes. She then allegedly tried to discuss several times to have her loans repaid.

“Each time, the debtors make commitments that they are not able to respect, or ignore the correspondence sent by CIBC,” mentions the request.

In interview with The Press On Thursday, Vincent Guzzo said he “vehemently” contested the bank’s assertions.

“Angelic Patience”

After hearing the bank’s lawyers and other creditors, Judge Michel Pinsonnault was sensitive to the financial institution’s arguments.

“The plaintiff, for my part, showed angelic patience, if I could say so, with regard to his client,” asserted the magistrate, responsible for the proceedings against the group.

Big debt to taxpayers

Among the creditors present at the virtual hearing on Friday, representatives of Revenu Québec mentioned debts of 6.7 million and those of Ottawa, of 1.4 million.

According to our information, the amounts claimed by the tax authorities could, however, continue to increase along the way.

At the end of October, Quebec had already filed mortgage appeals to recover nearly 3 million. Of this amount, more than 2.6 million represents withholding taxes on the pay of its employees. They are intended to pay their taxes and their contributions to public insurance plans, but Guzzo would have kept them in his coffers.

Quebec also asserted a second legal hypothec for sales taxes collected, but not remitted to the government.

According to court and land documents, the City of Laval is also claiming nearly $1.5 million in unpaid taxes and Montreal, $216,053.

The creditors also include private lenders: Equitable Bank, Q-12 Capital and Q-8 Capital, who are claiming a total of nearly 26 million from the Guzzo group, according to mortgage appeals traced in the Nominis real estate database.

Unpaid rent

Other creditors also expressed in court their fear of never seeing the color of the money owed to them by Guzzo if the judge does not issue an order to protect their rights. Among them: the owners of certain buildings that the group rents to house its rooms.

“The rent for the Central Market has not yet been paid,” explained for example Marc James Tacheji, the lawyer representing BCIMC, the public pension and insurance fund of British Columbia, owner of the vast Montreal property.

He explains that Guzzo had to pay his rent at 1^is November under a safeguard order. “I don’t think we’ll see the color of this rent by the end of the month. »

The Press reported last July that Guzzo must defend himself in court against three lessors, including BCIMC, who are demanding millions from him.

Read “CIBC wants to liquidate Cinémas Guzzo”

Read “Things are heating up between Guzzo and his backers”