BIG DEALS AND CASES
Major Infrastructure Funding Completed for BMO – High-Speed Internet Program
In May 2025, our Real Estate Commercial Lending team - led by partners Leor Margulies and Ladislav Kovac, with senior law clerk Cindy Applegath - assisted BMO in completing a $70 million financing with North Frontenac Telephone Ridgetown Corp. for the construction of broadband services under the Province of Ontario’s Accelerated High-Speed Internet Program. This was the second financing by BMO under this Program with North Frontenac. Our team at Robins Appleby is proud to have assisted in this important venture, which will accelerate the rollout of high-speed internet across underserved regions of Ontario.
Robins Appleby Secures Property Recovery, Defeats $4.6M Trust Indemnity Claim
no construction occurred, Kimkor demanded the return of its shares in 2022. The trustees refused, asserting that Kimkor first had to indemnify them for millions in alleged costs and claiming that the fee credit had been exhausted. The dispute culminated in a trial involving extensive fact evidence and competing forensic accounting reports. The Court sided fully with Kimkor, ruling that the indemnity clause did not entitle the trustees to withhold the shares or recover development expenses. The Court found the indemnity was narrow — covering only costs tied to the trustees’ limited shareholder role — and that the developers were entitled to recover only $1.76 million. The Court dismissed claims for equitable mortgage, subrogation, and constructive trust. The trustees were ordered to immediately transfer the shares to Kimkor. This outcome reinforces the strict limits of trust indemnity clauses and showcases Robins Appleby’s strength in resolving intricate disputes at the intersection of corporate, trust, and real estate law.
In August, Litigation partners David Taub and Philip Holdsworth achieved a major victory for Kimkor Holdings Inc. in a complex trust and real estate development dispute stemming from a failed $20 million commercial plaza project in Peterborough, Ontario. The case centered on three issues: whether the trustees could withhold Kimkor’s ownership interest under an indemnity clause, how a $2.2 million development fee credit should be applied, and the legitimacy of nearly $4.6 million in claimed project costs. Back in 2015, Kimkor had converted $2.2 million of secured debt owed by the developer, Stonebridge LAC Inc., into a credit toward construction costs for the project. The development lands were purchased through SBLAC Peterborough Inc., a company whose shares were held in trust for Kimkor by Stonebridge’s principals. After the project stalled indefinitely in 2017 and
6 ROBINS APPLEBY LLP | LEGAL PULSE FALL / WINTER 2025
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker