ManitobaExecutives at Winnipeg commercial real estate firm Shindico must divide some of their assets with a broker who was their business partner for more than two decades, a Manitoba judge has ruled.John Pearson and Shindleman brothers had unwritten partnership agreement, Manitoba judge findsArturo Chang · CBC News · Posted: Nov 28, 2025 6:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 2 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.John Pearson of ICI Properties is entitled to three of seven properties he co-owns with Shindico’s Sandy and Robert Shindleman, Court of King’s Bench Judge Sadie Bond ruled in a decision delivered Thursday. (Darren Bernhardt/CBC)Executives at Winnipeg commercial real estate firm Shindico must divide some of their assets with a broker who was their business partner for more than two decades, a Manitoba judge has ruled.John Pearson of ICI Properties is entitled to three of seven properties he co-owns with Shindico’s Sandy and Robert Shindleman, Court of King’s Bench Judge Sadie Bond ruled in a decision delivered Thursday.Combined, the seven properties have a total value of more than $150 million, the ruling said.Pearson sued the two brothers through the company 4818106 Manitoba Inc. after he ended an agreement that had established a real estate brokerage association with them in 2022.He said his decision was partly due to “negative attention” the Shindlemans were getting amid allegations they were involved in political corruption, which the brothers denied.The Shindlemans took the position that while the three were co-owners of the properties, their business relationship was not a partnership and did not require them to have unanimous agreement before they made major decisions.Bond said evidence presented in court showed they had an unwritten partnership agreement.The three “shared revenue and expenses. They each contributed skill and knowledge. They were carrying on business in common with a view to profit; it was a partnership,” the judge wrote.Bond sided with Pearson on how the partnership’s assets should be split, saying it was a more appropriate remedy to the situation than the solutions proposed by the Shindlemans.Three properties — a mixed-use site and vacant land in Selkirk, and a development on the western outskirts of Winnipeg — will go to Pearson. They’re worth just over a third of the total value of all the partnership’s assets.Meanwhile, the Shindlemans get Brandon’s Corral Centre, land in Winnipeg’s St. Vital neighbourhood and two properties in Saskatchewan.Bond also found Pearson was entitled to more than $7,450 over the sale of about 1.2 hectares (three acres) of land at one of the developments. Bond also awarded Pearson $22,000 in damages over legal fees charged to him by Shindico after the partnership ended.”The timing and manner in which the fees were initiated suggest that they were imposed more as a retaliatory action than anything else,” she said. The judge did not grant Pearson damages he sought over other fees in place before he ended the agreement, nor part of commissions from Shindico Realty leasing and sales that went to the Shindlemans.Shindico legal counsel Justin Zarnowski said Friday his firm has no comment.Pearson’s lawyer, Simon Bieber, did not provide comment prior to publication.With files from Bartley Kives
Shindico execs, real estate broker must divide properties: court ruling
