On 10 September, Ernst & Young Inc. was appointed by the Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench, Judicial District of Saskatoon, as Receiver of the assets and undertakings of The Big Sky Farms Group of Companies.

On 19 October, the court approved a ourchase and sale with agreement with a stalking horse purchaser for substantially all of the Canadian assets, undertaking and property of Big Sky.

The stalking horse agreement is subject to, among other things, the conduct of a further marketing and sales process in line with certain bidding procedures for the assets of Big Sky.

These procedures are designed to provide other interested parties an opportunity to submit offers to buy the property on terms more favorable than those set out in the stalking horse agreement.

Both Maple Leaf Foods and Olymel have been linked with the sale of Big Sky, which produces nearly 1 million hogs a year and has 42,000 sows.

Ernst and Young in the sale statement said that Big Sky has strong operations relative to its industry peers and a loyal employee base and strength at management.

The compnay's dependent customer relationships are with the major meat processors in Western Canada and the company is strategically located in rural communities close to local feed grains.

The company is vertically integrated encompassing genetics, feed milling, transportation and production.

Ernst and Young said that interested parties may receive additional information upon execution of a non-disclosure agreement.