*Update [December 18, 2018] — Miniso Canada claims on social media that it has reached a preliminary agreement with ‘Miniso China’ in a case that could have forced the “Japanese” discount retailer’s Canadian division into bankruptcy. We have requested an interview with the company and will follow up on this story upon a satisfactory confirmation of the settlement claim. Sources quoted in this story maintain that Miniso Canada has been questionable in its business dealings in this country, both with commercial real estate brokers as well as with management. The original story is below, where we discussed the public filing of a Notice of Hearing of Application for Bankruptcy Order, which is a publicly accessible document on the BC Courts website.

*6:00pm December 18: We’ve tried repeatedly by phone and email to reach Miniso’s public relations division today (after an email was provided by Miniso Canada on social media) and the company has been unresponsive to our repeated requests.

By Craig Patterson

The Chinese parent company for retailer Miniso Canada has brought an application to initiate bankruptcy of the Canadian division, claiming that the Canadian division has been fraudulent in its business dealings by transferring and hiding assets. The parent company is claiming debts owed in excess of $20-million, and has retained a law firm to proceed with the application for bankruptcy that will be heard next month. Sources are saying that Miniso’s Canadian division has a pattern of unethical behaviour, and some sources have speculated that the parent company is pulling out because of the recent arrest of the daughter of the founder of Chinese tech giant Huawei.