CALGARY, AB – (TSX: PMT) – Perpetual Energy Inc. (“Perpetual” or the “Company”) today received the Alberta Court of Appeal’s (the “Court of Appeal”) judgment (the “Court of Appeal Judgment”) with respect to the appeals heard by the Court of Appeal on Dec. 10, 2020 relating to the sale by Perpetual of legacy shallow gas properties in October 2016 to an arm’s length third-party purchaser after an extensive and lengthy marketing, due diligence and negotiation process (the “Sequoia Disposition”).
The Court of Appeal Judgment dismissed the appeal filed by Perpetual and granted certain aspects of the appeals filed by PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. LIT (“PwC”), in its capacity as trustee in bankruptcy of Sequoia Resources Corp. (“Sequoia”), with respect to the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench judgments of Aug. 15, 2019 and Aug. 26, 2020 pertaining to the Sequoia Disposition.
As previously disclosed, on Jan. 14, 2021, the Court of Queen’s Bench released its decision with respect to Perpetual’s application to strike and summarily dismiss the claim brought under Section 96 of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (the “BIA Claim”) finding that PwC could not establish a necessary element of the BIA Claim as Sequoia was not insolvent at the time of, nor rendered insolvent by, the Sequoia Disposition. The Court of Queen’s Bench therefore concluded there is “no merit” to the BIA Claim and it was summarily dismissed. On Jan. 21, 2021, PwC filed a notice of appeal of this judgment to the Court of Appeal.
Perpetual continues to believe that all of the outstanding claims brought by PwC in relation to the Sequoia Disposition are completely opportunistic and entirely without merit and it will continue to vigorously defend itself against them. The Company remains highly confident that it will be completely successful in defending the outstanding aspects of PwC’s claims.
The Memorandum of Judgment of the Court of Appeal has been posted to the Company’s website at www.perpetualenergyinc.com. Further information can be obtained by reviewing the public court documents that pertain to appeal numbers 1901-0255-AC, 1901-0262-AC and 2001-0174-AC as filed with the Court of Appeal.
About Perpetual
Perpetual is an oil and natural gas exploration, production and marketing company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. Perpetual owns a diversified asset portfolio, including liquids-rich natural gas assets in the deep basin of west central Alberta, heavy oil and shallow natural gas in eastern Alberta, with longer-term opportunities through undeveloped oil sands leases in northern Alberta. Additional information on Perpetual can be accessed at www.sedar.com or from the Company’s website at www.perpetualenergyinc.com.
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