Southern Alberta’s historic Stampede Ranch is facing a receivership application hearing which could determine the fate of the property.
The picturesque Stampede Ranch is a 135-year-old cattle ranch once run by Calgary Stampede founder Guy Weadick. The property, spanning nearly 190 acres, includes agricultural land, event operations, and livestock.
The current operators of the ranch, located about 20 kilometres southwest of Longview, Alta., are subject of a lawsuit aimed at recouping a $4.4-million debt.
Farm Lending Canada Inc. is suing The Stampede Ranch Ltd., Karl Farms Inc., Karl AG Corp. and Bryce Karl.
Parties hope to resolve
Bryce Karl is a director of Stampede Ranch and Karl AG, which owns 100 per cent of the voting shares of Stampede Ranch, according to corporate registries.
The Stampede Ranch is not the Calgary Stampede Ranch, a 22,000-acre property near Hanna, Alta., established in 1961 for the purpose of breeding and raising rodeo-competing horses and bulls.
A receiver application hearing was supposed to take place on Nov. 2 but was adjourned to Dec. 2.
According to representatives for Stampede Ranch, the operators are working with a new mortgage lender in hopes of having financing in place this week in order to pay out Farm Lending, which initiated the receivership application.
If that goes as planned, they say the receivership application hearing will be discontinued.
“Our focus remains on a constructive resolution that supports the continued operation and stewardship of the ranch in accordance with Foothills County’s land use bylaws,” reads a statement provided to CBC News.
A lawyer for Farm Lending told CBC News in an email that refinancing efforts are underway and he believes the matter will be resolved.
AER sanctions
Court documents filed ahead of the receivership application hearing show that Karl Farms, with Stampede Ranch, borrowed $5 million from Farm Lending in 2024.
But Farm Lending says in the documents that it wasn’t aware of Bryce Karl’s history with the Alberta Energy Regulator when it entered into the September 2024 loan agreement.
In 2015, Karl, who owned several oil and gas companies, was sanctioned by the AER under the Oil and Gas Conservation Act for violating 18 of its orders.
Karl was found to have failed to pay security and orphan well fund fees, administrative fees for pipeline licenses and abandonment costs.
Farm Lending had ‘serious concerns’
According to the AER, two other companies owned by Karl were petitioned into receivership, with the receiver noting their well and facility sites had been neglected for a “prolonged period of time.”
According to the 22-page decision, “the receiver identified the fact that there was a one million dollar limited liability rating deposit owed to the AER.”
Bankruptcy and insolvency records show Karl was denied a discharge from bankruptcy in 2014.
When Farm Lending learned of Karl’s troubles with the AER, it began to have “serious concerns” about his risk of non-compliance with his loan repayment, according to the receivership application.
“This was a concern to Farm Lending because it demonstrated a pattern of behaviour of ongoing failures to comply with legal obligations and the repeated failure to respect and meet procedural deadlines set by an administrative body,” reads Farm Lending’s court-filed application to appoint a receiver.
Other deals fell through
In response to that concern, Karl attempted to secure an alternative funding arrangement, according to Farm Lending’s court documents.
On Oct. 23, 2024, Karl provided documentation to Farm Lending of a commitment letter from a private investment firm.
But according to the receivership application documents, “it was later determined that the [commitment] was likely illegitimate or obtained based on misrepresentations.”
Farm Lending also said it has made “good faith efforts” to resolve the matter, including entering into two “standstill agreements” with the defendants, where repayment demands were paused based on statements from the borrower that refinancing was in the works. Neither standstill agreement led to payment of the indebtedness, according to the statement of claim
None of the claims in the filings have been tested in court.
Receivership would be ‘complicated’
The $5-million loan reached maturity on June 1, 2025 and the debtors are now considered in default, according to Farm Lending’s filing.
In its lawsuit filed last month, Farm Lending said it is seeking the appointment of a receiver.
“Farm Lending has been patient and has afforded multiple opportunities for the debtors to refinance,” reads the investment firm’s brief.
“The debtors have no viable defence for their default.”
Land, event operations, livestock
Jassmine Girgis is a law professor at the University of Calgary who specializes in bankruptcy and restructuring law.
She says, should a receiver be appointed, the receiver manager typically would take possession and control of the business and would then operate it “in the hope of selling it to a buyer as a going concern.”
The nature of the ranch’s operations would make it a “complicated receivership,” says Girgis.
“When a receiver manager comes in to manage the business, they have to be familiar with the business, they get a sense of the lay of the land,” said Girgis.
“But they also need to be able to run that particular business and in this case, the property includes agricultural land, event operations and livestock.”
Guy Weadick and his wife, Florence LaDue owned the ranch from 1920 until 1946.
Since then, on top of its cattle operation, the ranch has been used as a set for TV and movies, as a rodeo training facility and as a rehabilitation home for displaced youth.
In 2020, Foothills County signed off on changing its land use bylaws to allow for redesignation of the Stampede Ranch lands. The Western Wheel reported that the idea was to reopen the space to the public for events like concerts, weddings and other gatherings.
Karl told the Western Wheel that he had big plans for the property, including the construction of a draft horse barn, main lodge, a 14-site campground, gazebos, picnic shelters, washrooms, shower house, water towers, livestock shelters, a cookhouse, 11 cabins, up to six outfitters tents, and a pool/spa fitness centre.
Farm Lending has proposed Grant Thornton Ltd. be appointed receiver and manager of the property.
The parties are due back in court on Dec. 2. In the meantime, a judge has set out a litigation schedule leading up to that hearing.
