Canadian Blockbuster in receivership

Video store Blockbuster's Canadian operations have been placed into receivership by an Ontario court after the chain missed payments on its debt.

Documents filed with Ontario's Superior Court say the Canadian affiliate of the U.S.-based Blockbuster chain owes more than $67 million US to a number of movie studios that supplied the company.

The documents say the Canadian company acted as guarantor for Blockbuster's U.S. operations, which went into bankruptcy protection last September andthen subsequently sold off its assets last month.

The chain has about 400 stores in Canada, which remain open.The U.S. side was bought by Dish Network Corp. last month for $228 million in cash.

Blockbuster is already a shadow of its former self when the chain filed for bankruptcy protection, it was down to 3,000 stores in the U.S., less than a third of the peak of 9,100 in 2004.