This action was initiated as a Colorado State Court action by Colorado Mills in March, 2010 seeking arbitration of claims relating to a 2008 Joint Venture Agreement between Colorado Mills and SunOpta Grains and Foods.
The case was referred to arbitration, where each party asserted claims against the other with regards to pricing and delivery of sunflower crude oil as per the terms of the joint venture agreement.
After a hearing and submission of proposed findings by each party, the arbitrator ruled in favour of Colorado Mills and denied the claims put forward by Grains and Foods.
As a result the arbitrator concluded that Colorado Mills should recover $4,815,507 in money damages from Grains and Foods, prejudgment interest in the sum of $430,742, and post-judgment interest at the rate of 8%. SunOpta has filed a Notice of Arbitration Award and Intent to file a motion to vacate this ruling.
The appeal is based on SunOpta’s belief that key evidence was excluded from the record during the proceeding, including certain physical and testimonial evidence, thus resulting in inaccuracies in the decision.
The full amount of the award will be recorded in fiscal 2011 with an after tax expense of approximately $3.6m. Adjustments to the accrual may be made in future periods depending on the outcome of the appeal.
Source: SunOpta
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