History
Fortem Resources went from a small Alberta farmout to a share-funded Utah and Alberta portfolio, but repeated payment delays, restatements and a cease trade order ended in Chapter 11 in October 2021.
2012-2016: A small start in Alberta
The record begins on 24 February 2012, when the company, then filing as Strongbow Resources, Inc., signed a farmout with Harvest Operations Corp. A farmout lets one company earn an interest in another's land by drilling. Fortem could earn a 100% working interest in a licence covering 5,120 acres in the Compeer area of Alberta, which had no proven reserves or production. It had to start a test well by 1 June 2012, at an estimated cost of $1.6 to $1.75 million, or face a CAD$350,000 penalty. It also sold 1,333,333 shares at $0.15 for $200,000. The filing reported a change in shell company status, marking the start of oil and gas operations.
The next few years were quiet. In October 2014 the company settled CAD$555,000 of promissory notes, first issued in 2012, by paying CAD$200,000 in cash and issuing 538,461 shares at $0.65. Share numbers fell from 110,086,705 at the end of 2013 to 29,881,824 at the end of 2014. The beats do not explain this drop. In May 2016 it issued a US$200,000 secured convertible debenture at 10%, which could convert into shares at US$0.20 each, with the investor also receiving 200,000 extra units.
2017: A buying spree paid in shares
The story changed in 2017. In January the company settled about US$555,000 of debts by issuing roughly 2.2 million shares, one settlement being with a firm linked to director Michael Caetano. In April and May, now called Fortem, it bought four companies, mostly for new shares.
Colony Energy held 12,960 acres of leases in the Godin area of Northern Alberta, bought for 20 million shares plus 4 million promised to a third seller. Black Dragon and Rolling Rock each cost a US$100,000 deposit and 20 million shares. Each held a purchase agreement over Utah leases, one for Moenkopi wells and one for Mancos wells (named after rock formations), requiring millions of dollars in cash and drilling commitments. City of Gold, bought for 30 million shares, held Asia Pacific Mining shares and warrants and an option on a Myanmar mineral project. After these deals, Marc Bruner's entities held 37,500,000 shares, or 32.36%, and the filing reported a change in control. The share count rose from 31.7 million to about 116.7 million by year end.
In August the Utah agreements were amended, pushing payments to December 2018 but raising the cash prices, to US$3.6 million for Rolling Rock and US$3.9 million for Black Dragon. Fortem also won Utah state lease auctions, adding Mancos and Moenkopi acreage.
2018-2019: Restatements and repeated delays
In January 2018 the company said its 2017 quarterly statements could not be relied on because it had misjudged the value of the four acquired companies. In September it replaced its auditor, Dale Matheson Carr-Hilton LaBonte, with Davidson & Company LLP. The former auditor's reports carried a going-concern warning and an adverse opinion on internal controls, citing four material weaknesses.
The Utah deadlines kept moving. Amendments in May and August 2018 pushed certain payments to 2019, conditional on a TSX Venture Exchange listing. In July 2018 the company sold 600,000 shares at US$2.00 for US$1.2 million, tied to the listing's financing condition. In September 2018 it agreed to buy three heavy oil leases of 20,719 hectares in Alberta for $3,000,000 plus GST, paying a $200,000 deposit. Closing was extended to March 2019 and then to June 2019 for a further CDN$100,000.
In May 2019 the Utah terms were reset again. The remaining US$3.8 million and US$5.3 million became payable only from 12.5% of financing proceeds, with final dates in May 2020. In July the company widened its restatement to cover statements from May 2017 onward, saying it had wrongly treated the acquired companies as outside the accounting rules for variable interest entities. The late annual report led the Alberta Securities Commission to issue a management cease trade order on 4 July 2019. In September a non-binding term sheet proposed that an unnamed party commit up to US$15 million to re-enter Mancos wells, but no definitive agreement was reported.
2020-2021: Stalemate and Chapter 11
On 22 May 2020 the Utah deadlines moved again, to 1 August 2020. The company said the cease trade order had still not been revoked, that work on the audit of the year ended 29 February 2020 had started, and that being unable to raise funds to close the purchases was a risk. No payments were reported. The record is silent for the following year.
On 6 October 2021, Fortem filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Nevada and continued as a debtor-in-possession. A reorganization plan was being negotiated and a loan of undetermined size was expected to be sought. OTC Pink halted trading on 7 October, and the stock remained suspended pending a NEX Exchange listing review. Marc Bruner signed as CEO and the address had moved to Vancouver. What would happen to existing shares was undetermined.
Written from the 23 story beats below (2012 to 18 Oct 2021), which come from the company's own announcements and filings.