The auction of a dozen ranches totalling close to 45,000 acres held by Monette Farms Ltd. of Saskatchewan is moving to the next phase after none of the properties were sold by January 9.
Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Inc. announced that it would offer the properties for sale on December 2 and set an initial deadline of January 9 for buyers to express interest.
“We’ve had a lot of interest in the properties thus far and are utilizing multiple Ritchie Bros. platforms throughout the sale,” says Clare Furman, senior public relations manager with Ritchie Bros.
The initial listing resembled a traditional offering, allowing bidders to make offers and providing room for negotiation with the highest bidder afterward.
“If the high bid does not meet reserve when bidding closes, the high bidder will be the first to be contacted with the opportunity to negotiate,” the December listing said.
“Now that the first listing has closed, all the properties have been moved to a Tender by Auction process on rbauction.com,” Furman explains. “This looks more like our traditional auctions with a twist. The high bidder’s final price when the auction closes will be presented to the bidder; they have the right to accept it or not at that time.”
The new auction closes March 3.
Monette Farms is open to a lease-back agreement with the purchaser.
The listing of the 12 properties took place as Monette awaited a court decision on whether or not it owed $12 million to adviser David Dutcyvich for helping Monette Farms buy 16 ranches in BC in 2021.
A BC Court of Appeal decision earlier this month pared the amount, affirming Dutcyvich’s right to just $2.7 million for his services.
Monette, which undertook a major diversification into produce at a ranch in Ashcroft over the past three years, has since invited offers on a further 16 properties it farms in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Montana through its website.
The deadline for bids on the self-offered properties is February 1.
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