Date Closed

July 14, 2022

Lead Office

Montréal

On July 14, 2022, Aldo Group completed its cross-border restructuring by implementing its plan of compromise and arrangement, which has been approved by nearly 100% of its creditors, sanctioned by the court and recognized by the United States Bankruptcy Court.

McCarthy Tétrault advises Ernst & Young Inc. (EY) as court-appointed Monitor of 9 debtors and one impleaded party forming part of the “Aldo Group”, a worldwide shoe and accessories retailer located in Montreal, which initiated CCAA proceedings in May 2020.

At the time of the initiation of the CCAA proceedings, the Aldo Group employed approximately 8000 employees, managed a retail chain of approximately 700 stores and had approximately 3000 points of sale (owned and operated stores or franchises) in more than 100 countries. A Chapter 15 proceeding is ongoing in Delaware and formal insolvency proceedings have also been instituted in Switzerland, France, Ireland and United Kingdom in connection with entities related to the Aldo Group. The complexity of this matter namely resides in the number of stores and landlords involved, the thousands of claims which were filed as part of the claims process, the number of jurisdictions involved, the number of employees and the debt structure. An interim financing of US$60 Million was approved at the outset of the CCAA proceedings.

McCarthy Tétrault is advising EY with a team led by Jocelyn Perreault that includes Gabriel Faure and François Alexandre Toupin (Bankruptcy & Restructuring) and Hadrien Montagne (Business).