A federally appointed receiver overseeing a Canadian-owned swine operation in South Dakota is filing a motion to authorize the sale of its assets.
Compeer Financial, a loan-lending bank, said Sunterra orchestrated a check-kiting scheme that put them over $30 million in debt and over their line of credit. Sunterra denies these allegations.
The bank’s collateral was 110,000 pigs and other Sunterra-owned assets.
Receiver Pipestone Management is proposing the sale of all Compeer’s collateral to The Pork Group Inc. for $15 million. That includes 110,000 pigs and approximately 150 barn lease commitments. TPG has pigs in approximately 65% of those barns already.
Pipestone said an important piece is that TPG plans to offer employment to all current Sunterra employees. They also said TPG offered the “best value” according to USDA market prices and was the only buyer who proposed purchasing all assets.
Pipestone also said it was the best chance to make the debtors whole.
Compeer originally estimated the value of the assets at $19 million, but Pipestone Management said that was an inaccurate estimate.
There is no agreement following receivership for Pipestone Management to manage the pigs if the sale goes through. However, Compeer and Receiver would continue to manage the assets for 30 days to allow smooth transitions for members with TN work visas working on the farms.
