At the end of his tether, an investor who loaned more than 50 million to Réal Bouclin turns to the courts in the hope of getting paid. The chairman and CEO of Groupe Sélection would accumulate outstanding interest in excess of 2.6 million, would refuse to present his financial statement and would have placed his partner in default.
These allegations, which have not yet been proven in court, appear in a recent application instituting proceedings filed by Financement Projets Québec (FPQ). The company threatens to seize the luxurious residence of the fallen tycoon of seniors’ residences (RPA). The document paints a portrait of a business relationship that began in 2019 with Mr. Bouclin, before deteriorating considerably.
In one particular case, the plaintiffs go so far as to accuse the defendants of having “unlawfully and improperly” failed to repay interest due of approximately $2.2 million over the past few months.
FPQ is owned by a Luxembourg company controlled by two French-born businessmen, Luc and Franck Resslen. Since 2019, she has granted four loans totaling 54.5 million, at interest rates of 7% to 10.5%, to Financing Réal Bouclin, one of the many companies of the businessman. Another numbered company belonging to him is also implicated.
The FPQ’s remonstrances are not limited to the tens of millions of dollars in arrears. The company says it has no idea of the financial records of the entities to which it has lent money. This radio silence has persisted since 2020, and a formal notice did not resolve the impasse, write the applicants. They are asking the courts to force Mr. Bouclin to hand over his financial statements.
FPQ adds that the businessman’s company “has failed to transmit its financial statements for the years 2020 to the present, despite FPQ’s clear right to obtain these financial statements, as provided for in the promise of financing”.
In addition, FPQ alleges that it found itself in a situation of “default” no later than last May because Financement Réal Bouclin was unable to repay a loan of 6 million granted last December. Selection Group had already been under the protection of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) for more than a month.
“The respect of the deadline and the full repayment of the amounts due […] were essential for FPQ, in that this omission placed FPQ in default in the context of a call for payment, a situation for which it reserves all its rights and Remedies Against Defendants,” the motion points out.
However, it was not possible to have more details about this file. The document does not name the project in which FPQ invested. On Monday, the firm Thibeault Joyal, which represents the plaintiffs, did not call back La Presse. Invited to comment on the steps of the FPQ, Mr. Bouclin declined.
Court documents filed by the monitor of record, PwC, identify FPQ as a “partner” of Selection but do not mention in which projects this company has interests.
The continuation of the Resslen business is in addition to the notice of sale under judicial supervision of Mr. Bouclin’s Laval home. To guarantee the loans, the businessman had granted FPQ personal guarantees by offering his Laval home as collateral. This one, valued at nearly $5.5 million by the City, belongs to the Réal Bouclin Trust.
Sélection is entering the home stretch of the auction process aimed at selling its assets in order to straighten out its finances and reimburse its bankers. PwC is expected to determine the winning bids on Friday. The assets offered at auction are grouped into two portfolios. The first relates to the 25 RPAs held with Revera. The second includes assets, such as the District des Brasseurs project (ex-Molson brewery), which had not yet been the subject of OTC agreements.
