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The owner of the Ottawa Senators, the founder of Spa Nordik and a major Ottawa-Gatineau developer are looking to buy the historic Fairmont Le Château Montebello in western Quebec.
The hotel’s owner, China Evergrande Group, was told by a judge early in 2024 that with $300 billion US in liabilities and no plan to refinance, it was time for the company to liquidate its assets.
The historic log resort in western Quebec then went up for sale. The Superior Court of Quebec turned the sale over to accounting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) last November.
Jean-Pierre Poulin, CEO of developers Devcore, told Radio-Canada that Senators owner Michael Andlauer called him to talk about the sale. He added Groupe Nordik’s Martin Paquette is also involved.
He declined to say how much the group is bidding, but called it a fair price.
Andlauer, who bought the Senators in 2023, told Radio-Canada in a statement that he’s been open to opportunities to get involved in the Outaouais ever since.
WATCH | Coverage of the sale from 2024:
Quebec’s iconic Château Montebello hotel is up for sale
A decade after it was purchased by real estate developer China Evergrande Group, Fairmont Le Château Montebello is once again up for sale. Nicole Laflamme, mayor of Montebello, Que., says the iconic hotel has been part of the community since the 1930s, and she’s hopeful that any new owners will be dedicated to restoring and maintaining it.
The former Canadian Pacific Railway hotel, located on the Ottawa River between Ottawa and Montreal, boasts more than 200 guest rooms, a golf course, dozens of kilometres of skiing and snowmobile trails, and a 26,000-hectare game preserve.
In 1930, 10,000 western red cedars were transported from B.C. to construct what’s known as the world’s largest log building.
Evergrande bought the hotel in late 2014.
PwC has been granted a two-week extension to select a final offer for the purchase of the hotel, Radio-Canada reported.
The delay until June 22 will allow the receiver to thoroughly study the purchase offers and present the best one to the Superior Court,. The winning bid is expected to be announced later this summer.