A Toronto-based forensic accounting firm is investigating the 2016 sale of local RV manufacturer Roadtrek to German-based Erwin Hymer Group as part of a multimillion-dollar insurance claim that alleges Roadtrek misrepresented its operations and cash flow in the years leading up to the deal.
This story by James Jackson originally appeared on TheRecord.com.
According to bankruptcy documents filed in court last week, accounting firm Cohen Hamilton Steger was hired on Aug. 21 to help investigate the deal that saw Erwin Hymer Group acquire Roadtrek from U.S.-based private equity firm Industrial Opportunity Partners and rename it Erwin Hymer Group North America.
That new RV company went into receivership three years later in February 2019, owing hundreds of millions of dollars to creditors.
The insurance claim, known as a representations and warranties policy, alleges Roadtrek “may have breached several representations” as part of that deal, and that Roadtrek’s financial statements for 2013, 2014 and the first 10 months of 2015 were not presented fairly.
Industrial Opportunity Partners had purchased the majority of the Roadtrek shares five years earlier in 2011, then sold them to Erwin Hymer Group in a share purchase agreement that closed Feb. 17, 2016. The RV company’s local management team remained unchanged following the deal.
Erwin Hymer Group North America expanded significantly in the months and years that followed, but went into receivership last February and filed for bankruptcy in September.
The insurance policy, which has a $7.5 million coverage limit, was issued by ACE INA Insurance – now Chubb Insurance Company of Canada.
A final report on the investigation is expected in the coming weeks.