Selling a Food-Processing or Cold-Storage Facility in Alberta

1. Establish what is actually for sale

Confirm the registered property owner, business seller and included land, buildings, shares or assets, equipment, inventory, intellectual property, contracts, employees, licences, permits, certifications and working capital. Create clear inclusion and exclusion schedules.

Do not blend real-estate value, equipment value, inventory and business goodwill into an unexplained asking price. Qualified appraisal, valuation, tax and accounting work remains separate from brokerage positioning.

• Property
• Business structure
• Equipment
• Inventory
• Permissions
• Exclusions

2. Build a claim-controlled regulatory record

Index CFIA and AHS permissions, scope, holder, address, commodities, activities, status, inspections, corrective work and renewal dates, together with municipal and private certification records. Have advisors define the transition path for the proposed transaction structure.

CFIA says an SFC licence is not transferable to another person. Avoid marketing the property as CFIA approved, AHS approved, licensed, turnkey or export ready when the claim actually belongs to a particular operator, product, activity or market.

3. Prepare the property and permit file

Collect title, plans, instruments, surveys, approved use, development and building permits, occupancy and fire records, area, site access, loading, utilities, renovations, roof and envelope work, environmental reports, insurance losses and capital history.

Reconcile discrepancies before launch. Historical operation does not prove that undocumented work is accepted or that another buyer's use will be approved.

4. Document refrigeration and process equipment

Create a tagged register for refrigeration, cold rooms, compressors, vessels, piping, detection, ventilation, controls, boilers, steam, compressed air, production and packaging equipment. Include ownership, serials, age, capacity source, registrations, inspections, maintenance, repairs, incidents and known replacement plans.

Have qualified professionals report on regulated systems and condition. A service contract, ABSA record or current operation is not a remaining-life guarantee or whole-facility certification.

5. Reconcile water, wastewater, waste and utilities

Organize water and energy bills, interval data where available, wastewater and sewer agreements, sampling, interceptors, pretreatment, maintenance, waste hauling, permits or authorizations, incidents and correspondence. Describe the operating conditions behind each record.

Do not convert historical consumption or discharge into a promise of buyer capacity, municipal acceptance or expansion potential.

6. Separate property and business economics

Prepare property costs, occupancy arrangements, related-party rent, utilities, maintenance and capital separately from production, margins, inventory, working capital and normalized earnings. Reconcile seller-prepared schedules to accountant-controlled records where appropriate.

A brokerage memorandum is not an audit, quality-of-earnings report, appraisal or business valuation. State definitions, periods, sources and limitations for every financial claim.

7. Stage the market and data room

Use public, qualified and restricted disclosure tiers for location, products, customers, employees, recipes, pricing, food-safety records, inspections, system details and environmental material. Use confidentiality controls and a correction log.

Market the verified property and operating opportunity without exposing sensitive food, employee, customer or security information. A general disclaimer does not cure a known inaccurate claim.

8. Qualify execution and control transition

Compare buyer identity, operating experience, equity, financing, licence plan, professional team, conditions, access, confidentiality, employee and contract treatment, inventory count, equipment testing, commissioning, closing and post-closing support. Maintain backup paths.

Commercially can run a licensed public or confidential property and business-real-estate process. It does not transfer licences, certify food or refrigeration systems, audit earnings or provide legal, tax, accounting, engineering, environmental or regulatory opinions.