Concerned Bridging Finance Inc. Investors Move to Oppose PwC Plan to Abandon Sales Process and Arbitrarily Appoint Itself to Wind Down Bridging Finance

TORONTO, Feb. 21, 2022 /CNW/ - A group of Unitholders of Bridging Finance Fund will be in court this week to try and prevent PwC from terminating a court-approved process to sell the company and its assets.

PWC, the court appointed receiver and manager of Bridging assets and properties, will make a motion to the Court on Friday, February 25, 2022, to end the sale, and the Sale and Investment Solicitation Process (SISP), approved by the Ontario Superior Court.

In court documents filed late in the day on Friday, February 18^th, PwC is asking the Court to amend its previous order to find a buyer for Bridging Finance. The Receiver also said it wants permission to liquidate, without Court approval, any loan worth $10 million or less.

In recent weeks, a growing number of Unitholders have raised concerns that PwC is trying to arbitrarily wind down the sales process without a Unitholder vote and approval. They say the receiver is acting in its own self-interest, deliberately creating losses in the portfolio through improper management, at the same time charging exorbitant fees.

The Unitholders support the sale of Bridging Finance to BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager with multiple private debt funds, and one of several companies that have expressed a keen interest in purchasing Bridging Finance. The Unitholders insist PwC has a material conflict of interest in recommending itself as the best option, despite having no experience managing private debt, and by not striking a Net Asset Value for Bridging Finance Funds since May 1, 2021. They accuse PwC of conducting a secretive and opaque process.

The concerned Unitholders describe the move as an abuse of power, and plan to seek an adjournment as they oppose it in court on Friday at 10 a.m., when PwC asks the court to amend its initial order. The Unitholders are calling on all Bridging Finance investors to join in its effort to oppose the termination of the sales process and demand a Unitholder vote. They contend that a PwC wind down will result in a much greater loss of investment capital, and only benefit PwC.

The Unitholders are also calling on Bennet Jones LLP, the court appointed legal advisor to investors, to provide transparency and clarity to Unitholders in its role as legal advisor to them. They also want Bennet Jones to seek an adjournment of PwC's arbitrary motion to be heard on Friday, February 25^th, as PwC has not provided sufficient notice to Unitholders.

SOURCE Concerned Unitholders of Bridging Finance Inc.