The management of residences for seniors (RPA) in the name of the new owner of the complexes, Corev Immobilier: this is what should remain with Groupe Sélection when its last assets have been sold. Everything indicates that Réal Bouclin will no longer be involved in the company he founded and which has been insolvent for 10 months.
Groupe Sélection has been sheltered from its creditors since November 14.
Corev Immobilier is eyeing the company’s remaining RPAs, projects and land.
The founder and president of Sélection, Réal Bouclin, will not be part of the relaunch.
A dispute involving a Selection project in Ottawa will also be the subject of a debate on Thursday before the Superior Court of Quebec. This was decided by Judge Michel A. Pinsonneault, who is overseeing the judicial restructuring taking place under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), on Monday.
Nevertheless, the most recent report from the controller PwC offers a glimpse of the face of Sélection following the sale of the last block of assets at auction, which notably includes four seniors’ complexes owned in whole or in part by Mr. Bouclin.
“Corev has no experience in operating RPA and intends to partner with [the management] of Sélection to ensure the management of RPA,” writes Christian Bourque, responsible for financial recovery. The controller is informed that a formal management agreement is being developed with Sélection managers and a company to be formed. »
Mr. Bourque’s report, however, does not offer details on the form that the collaboration with Corev would take. Listening to its president, Daniel Revah, the founder of Sélection, still under the protection of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act due to his personal financial setbacks, will not be part of the portrait.
“For the moment, Réal Bouclin is not involved,” said Mr. Revah, in a brief telephone interview, when contacted by La Presse. “We’re going to have his employees for now. »
It will be quite a change for Sélection. When it filed for creditor protection in November 2022, the company was very diversified. The group specialized in the management of RPA in addition to acting as a real estate developer. At that time, she was responsible for the management of 48 seniors’ complexes. We can now count them on the fingers of one hand.
On its website, Corev presents itself as a specialist in the construction of towers of “more than 40 floors” and the large-scale renovation of heritage buildings. She says she has completed projects like the 43-story Tom Condos complex in downtown Montreal. This real estate skyscraper is located on Union Avenue, between René-Lévesque Boulevard and Cathcart Street.
Even though the sale of Sélection’s remaining assets to Corev is supported by PwC, an Ontario partner is opposed to what is on the table. The dispute concerns a multi-residential complex 50% owned by Sélection. The other partner in this project, SmartCenters, which did not submit bids in the auction, wishes to buy out its partner’s interests in the project rather than see Corev land.
In the challenge, SmartCenters’ lawyers allege that the controller did not fulfill his mandate since Corev does not have experience in managing buildings that house seniors.
“This transaction will not satisfy the need for a partner with the experience and capacity to manage RPAs,” the plaintiffs argue. SmartCenters is trying to find an experienced and established operator for the Ottawa project. »
The controller’s lawyer, Alain Riendeau, sees things differently. Before Judge Pinsonneault, the PwC representative criticized SmartCenters for being the only partner wanting to “paralyze” the Sélection relaunch process. Me Riendeau affirmed that SmartCenters “regrets not having submitted an offer during the auction” and that it now wishes to “purchase the interests of Sélection without having submitted” a proposal.
The debate on the merits surrounding this dispute will take place on Thursday.