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IPICO INC. FILES A PROPOSAL UNDER THE BANKRUPTCY AND INSOLVENCY ACT

^{Published on 2011-02-18 14:50:47 - Market Wire}
 

BURLINGTON, ON, Feb. 18 /CNW/ - IPICO Inc. (TSX-V:RFD) ("IPICO" or the "Company") filed today a proposal to its creditors under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (Canada). Under the proposal the Company will request the approval of its creditors and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to a reorganization of its debts and capital structure.

IPICO is negotiating the terms of a potential interim loan facility with Brookfield Asset Management Inc. ("Brookfield"), majority holder of its Series C Secured Debentures. It is expected that the proposed loan facility will be submitted to the Court for approval as soon as possible. It is anticipated that the loan facility will allow the Company and its operating subsidiaries to carry on business during the formal Court process. If implemented the proposal will result in the cancellation of all of IPICO's outstanding common shares and Class A Preferred shares without any payment or compensation to holders of those shares and Brookfield or an affiliate thereof will subscribe for all of the new common shares of IPICO.

If the agreement on the interim loan facility is reached and the proposal is approved by affected creditors and the Court, IPICO will continue to operate as a subsidiary of Brookfield. However, if agreement on the interim loan facility is not reached, or if the proposal is not approved by affected creditors and the Court, it is expected that IPICO will become bankrupt and be placed into receivership.

For purposes of the proposal and reorganization IPICO has retained Ernst & Young Inc. to act as its trustee and Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP as its counsel. IPICO has received the resignations from its board of directors of Steven Adams, John Gillies and Rob Bird. Gordon Westwater, Melvin Steinke, Frank Anderson and Allan Beach are the remaining members of the board of directors.

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements regarding IPICO's future intentions with respect to the proposal, the interim loan facility and related future events. Any statements in this news release that are not statements of historical fact may be considered to be forward-looking statements. Written words such as "may", "will", "expect", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "intends", "goal", "objective", "seek", "attempt", or variations of these or similar words, identify forward-looking statements. These statements by their nature are estimates of future results only and involve substantial risks and uncertainties, including those detailed from time to time. Actual results could differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements and are based on current expectations that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the inability to close the interim credit facility or the failure to settle and enter into definitive documentation, or the failure to receive all necessary creditor, court or other approvals on terms acceptable to IPICO and the creditors involved. These and other risks may be detailed from time to time in IPICO's periodic reports filed on SEDAR. IPICO undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

ABOUT IPICO Inc. IPICO Inc. is an RFID solution supplier with operations in Canada, USA, South Africa, Europe, and Asia. IPICO produces smart labels, tags and readers based on the IP-X communication protocol. Its products are designed to conform to regulatory requirements in most major geographical regions, to excel at long read range, fast multi-read anti-collision and high thru-beam read-speeds of dynamic tag populations, and to allow for multi-reader rollout in close proximity. IPICO's products are used to optimize the management of products, equipment, people, animals and processes within the logistics and other value chains. For further information, go to [ www.ipico.com ].

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