Water Bottler Naya Seeks Protection

Canadian bottled water company Naya Inc. has filed for bankruptcy protection, unable to recover from the loss of a core distributor. The list of creditors--who collectively say they are owed $70 million--includes the Bank of Montreal, Royal Bank of Canada and the Quebec Federation of Labor’s Solidarity Fund. Naya, based in Laval, near Montreal, employs 240 people and has annual sales of $116 million. It has had problems since May, when Coca-Cola stopped distributing Naya’s products and introduced its own brand of bottled water, called Dasani. That cost Naya about 60% of its sales. The cost of developing a new system of direct-store delivery and retail warehouse delivery helped push the company toward its bankruptcy filing. Of the total owed, $55.4 million is secured by company assets, according to court documents.