Sterling Shoes and Sterling Shoes are granted creditor protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act

On October 21, 2011, the Supreme Court of British Columbia (the Court) granted Sterling protection from their creditors pursuant to the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA). Alvarez & Marsal Canada Inc. was appointed Monitor of the business and financial affairs of Sterling. Sterling was a leading shoe retailer in Canada, operating under five retail banners and having 158 stores in five provinces. During the CCAA proceedings, the Court authorized Sterling to enter into two separate agency agreements to liquidate inventory from Sterling's redundant stores, and to engage in a sale and investor solicitation process in order to find a strategic investor or a purchaser of Sterling's business. In May 2012, Sterling completed the sale of its business, including the assignment of leases for 69 of its store locations, to Town Shoes Limited. Fasken Martineau acted as counsel to Alvarez & Marsal in the CCAA proceedings with a team that included Kibben Jackson (Insolvency & Restructuring), John Grieve(Insolvency & Restructuring), Vicki Tickle(Insolvency & Restructuring), Nick Roos (Corporate Transactions), and Clayton Jones (Labour and Employment).