Under a sale process approved Thursday by the Ontario Court of Justice, binding offers for the business, either as a going concern or to liquidate it, will be due 26 January. A decision on the winning bid is due no later than 10 February. 

According to court documents, Hamilton Specialty Bar owes its secured creditors approximately CDN110 million. Most of that amount is in secured notes held by private equity firms that bought Hamilton Bar out of bankruptcy in 2007.   

The business was forced into receivership this month after one of its creditors, Wells Fargo Capital Finance Corp. Canada, called nearly CDN27.6 million in principal, interest and fees. In court documents, the bank said Hamilton Bar has a long history of loan defaults and operating losses. The business had been seeking a buyer who would continue to operate it, the bank said, but the sales process was ultimately unsuccessful. 

According to The Hamilton (Ontario) Spectator, Hamilton Bar’s financial problems began to become apparent to employees following its annual holiday shutdown. Employees were set to return to work on 2 January, but were told to stay home due to a “cash flow problem," the newspaper reported. 

Operations have since resumed under the auspices of court-appointed receiver Ernst & Young to fulfill orders from Hamilton Bar’s top three customers, according to the CBC, Canada’s public broadcaster. 

However, Tony DePaulo, a spokesman with the United Steelworkers District 6, told the CBC that the business has only about four weeks’ worth of financing.  He said he is optimistic that Hamilton Bar can be sold as a going concern rather than liquidated.