Everest Toys placed into receivership after bank ends lending relationship: docs

TORONTO – Canadian toy distributor Everest Toys has been placed into receivership.

Court documents show the Ancaster, Ont.-based company owed TD Bank about $25 million when the bank made a receivership application last month and terminated its relationship with Everest Toys.

TD said receivership was necessary because Everest was facing “deteriorating financial circumstances,” had seen its entire board resign and had failed to satisfy the terms of its lending agreements.

“It is rudderless and is no longer able to meaningfully work with the bank towards a mutually beneficial outcome,” TD said in a factum filed in August. 

Receivership is a legal process where a neutral third party is appointed by a court to take control of a distressed company in order to recover amounts owing to creditors. 

Debt relief company Spergel Inc. is the receiver for Everest Toys. The appointment signals that significant troubles have befallen the 33-year-old company with deep ties to some of the world’s biggest toy makers. 

Everest Toys’ website shows the company has relationships with Hasbro, Mattel and the Lego Group and manages Alex Global Products and Crazy Forts. 

The business was started in 1992 by Bob Putman, whose son Doug now runs HMV, Toys “R” Us Canada, Sunrise Records, Northern Reflections, Ricki’s and Cleo through Putman Investments. 

Court records show Doug Putman is vice-president of Everest Toys and sat on its board alongside several other family members, including his parents Bob and Karen. 

However, TD’s court filing says the company’s entire board resigned in August, leaving the business without much leadership and the bank unclear as to whether workers have been paid since.

Neither Doug Putman nor Everest Toys have responded to a request for comment on the state of the business.

Real estate listings show the business put a 94,176-square-foot property up for sale at the start of the year.

The Cormorant Road warehouse in Ancaster, Ont., west of Toronto, was listed for $29,194,560 and advertised as having space for equipment storage, loading and unloading and other warehousing needs.

Putman Investments has spent the last few years cultivating a reputation for scooping up ailing brands and turning them around. Northern Reflections, Ricki’s and Cleo are among the company’s newest acquisitions. 

Some of Putman Investments’ prior purchases appear to be struggling. Toys “R” Us Canada has spent the year closing locations and renovating others to install play gyms. It accepted $120 million in financing from investment firm Gordon Brothers last year.

Putman Investments’ home goods retailer Rooms + Spaces, which, at one time, had 24 stores, has recently disappeared from the Canadian retail landscape altogether. 

Tea purveyor T. Kettle, which Putman Investments launched out of 45 former DavidsTea locations, also appears to have retrenched from the market. Its website lists no stores but continues to accept e-commerce orders.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2025.