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The firm’s success depends on its planned spas becoming a reality. So far, two of its most pivotal projects appear to be mired in cost increases and construction delays.

Accounting firm Grant Thornton’s cautions are contained in the spa development company’s annual financial statements from 2022 and 2023, the most recent year available. They were filed in Austria, where Therme Group RHTG is headquartered.

Six German-speaking academics — three experts in finance, two in accounting and one in auditing — reviewed the documents at the Star’s request and translated key segments. They say the auditor’s remarks are a serious warning about Therme Group RHTG’s future financial stability, though not a sign that the company is in imminent danger.

Therme Group told the Star the financial disclosures offer an incomplete and inaccurate portrait of Therme’s broader business.

The auditor’s comments are recognition of the “inherent risk of a development business,” Therme said, stressing that it has no liquidity concerns as it presses forward with its expansion with the “unconditional backing” of its shareholders.

“Grant Thornton’s comments are over two years old, and these risks have not materialized — the opposite has occurred. The company has grown larger and stronger,” Therme’s spokesperson John Perenack said.

“ɫɫ�� Star readers should be reassured that Therme Group has the successful track record, financial strength, and demonstrated capital markets backing to deliver an attraction at Ontario Place that not only people will love to visit, but will create thousands of jobs, inject new global investment and tax dollars into Ontario.”

When Premier Doug Ford’s government selected Therme out of 34 bidders to redevelop part of the beloved 155-acre public park, Ford assured taxpayers the province had picked a “world-class” development partner. The firm had been thoroughly vetted based on benefits it could provide to Ontarians as well as other criteria including “delivery certainty.”

The auditor’s admonishment, however, suggests Therme’s plans include more uncertainty than the province has disclosed to the public.

Such warnings signal a “real, material risk,” said Jürgen Ernstberger, an accounting professor at the Technical University of Munich, though they can be “quite normal” for a development company.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean (Therme Group RHTG) is going insolvent,” Ernstberger said. “It just means that there’s some uncertainty about whether it will have enough money to pay its bills and finish its projects over the next year.”

Therme said the experts consulted by the Star lacked context about its broader business and finances. The financial statements viewed by the Star excluded income from Therme Group’s operating spas, though they do disclose support the company receives from a minority shareholder.

“Asking third parties to analyze incomplete information to draw broad conclusions on the financial health of Therme Group’s enterprise does not give a true and fair view and is grossly and intentionally misleading,” Therme said.

The auditor’s warnings add to mounting concerns about Therme Group’s stability, raised in a 2024 probe by Ontario’s auditor general and media reports.

Ontario’s lease with Therme Canada lists Therme Group RHTG as the controlling entity responsible for the Canadian subsidiary. All lobbying for the Ontario Place spa to the Ford government was done on behalf Therme Group RHTG, according to the provincial lobbyist registry.

It’s not clear whether the Ontario government was aware of the auditor’s warnings from 2022 and 2023. Therme Group RHTG’s accounts are public in Austria, which has stricter financial disclosure requirements for privately owned companies than Canada, but the company told the Star it was not required to notify Ontario of their contents.

Tourism, Culture and Gaming Minister Stan Cho’s office, which oversees the redevelopment of Ontario Place, redirected questions about Therme’s finances to the company.

In a statement, ministry spokesperson Denelle Balfour said the government did a “thorough review” of Therme Group RHTG’s audited financial statements before approving the Ontario Place spa, and that the company passed a stress test that required it to have a net worth of over $100 million.

The issues flagged by Grant Thorton in Therme Group RHTG’s 2022 and 2023 financial statements — both filed after Ontario selected Therme’s bid to redevelop Ontario Place — revolve around what auditors call “going concern.”

Usually, companies prepare financial statements under the assumption they’ll keep operating (or, in accounting parlance, that the business will remain a “going concern”). But if the finances show signs the company’s future could be less certain, auditors are duty-bound to say so when they sign off on the statements.

“The unresolved question of full project financing and the related execution of the thermal spa projects presents a material uncertainty that raises significant doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern,” the Grant Thornton auditor wrote in Therme’s 2023 report.

Grant Thornton noted that its opinion remains unqualified, which indicates the company’s books were accurate and transparent about potential risks.

Therme Group RHTG is backed by a shareholder, engineering firm A-HEAT Allied Heat Exchange Technology AG, whose support was noted in the company’s financial statements and its bid for Ontario Place. This relationship is a “core piece of the full financial picture of Therme Group,” the company’s statement to the Star said.

Ernstberger, of the Technical University of Munich, said that backing is “a positive support factor but not sufficient evidence of (financial) stability on its own.”

“The auditor’s going-concern emphasis shows that material uncertainties remain around project delivery and financing even with the shareholder’s backing,” he added.

Questions about the Austrian company’s finances first surfaced publicly in the auditor general’s 2024 report, which found a senior adviser within the government had flagged concerns in 2022 about Therme Group having “low liquidity.”

Then and since, the Ford government has dismissed those concerns, emphasizing that the company had to pass a $100-million net worth test.

Since the Ontario Place spa was approved, Therme Group RHTG has posted yearly net losses, according to its financial statements. Those same statements show its liabilities jumped from 11 million euros ($17 million) in 2019 to 155 million ($246 million) in 2023, the latest year available.

Therme said it is normal for a development-focused company to spend on things ranging from land acquisition to permitting and architecture, and RHTG’s expenses are a “testament to our commitment to the project and the financial strength of the company and its shareholders.”

Therme’s corporate structure includes a network of affiliated companies, some of which own the global spa projects, the documents show. Most of those projects are far from built.

As of fiscal year-end 2023, about half of the holding company’s assets, totalling 220 million euros ($350 million), stemmed from equity ownership in subsidiaries, the 2023 report shows.

Another 78 million euros ($125 million) of Therme Group RHTG’s assets came from loans and other payments owed by affiliated Therme companies. At the same time, as part of its assets, Therme Group RHTG counted approximately 18 million euros ($29 million) in services it performed on the projects that have not yet been billed to the affiliates. If one of the projects goes bankrupt, Therme could struggle to recoup that money, said Jan Mahrt-Smith, professor of finance at the Rotman School of Management, after reading the 2022 and 2023 financial statements.

Therme said the Star’s analysis is “incorrect and misleading,” and that experts consulted for this story lacked the “necessary information to form a valid judgment.”

“These risks are for the company and its shareholder to evaluate and manage, neither of whom have asked for the unsolicited opinions of these advisers,” Therme said.

“Therme has had sufficient capital to continue its development projects.”

In recent years, Therme has pitched spas in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East while attracting private investments to help it raise the billions needed to build them.

Therme has acquired one existing spa since the auditor’s 2023 warning, but the firm’s three core projects remain in various stages of development: one in Bad Vilbel, Germany, just outside of Frankfurt; a second in Manchester, United Kingdom; and the third at Ontario Place. The opening dates for the Bad Vilbel and Manchester projects have been repeatedly pushed back.

Therme has not yet secured all the financing it will need to build all three, the company said.

“Fundraising for all these projects is ongoing, and a significant proportion of the necessary funding is already secured,” Therme said. “We will release more details in due course, in line with the agreements we have with our funding partners in relation to the public disclosure of such details.”

Therme told the Star it has invested $60 million into the Ontario Place project to date, with the funds “sourced by Therme Group, mainly from shareholders.”

“In the case of ɫɫ�� the design process is ongoing, and as of now we have not taken possession of the site,” Therme said.

“Whilst we have allocated all the necessary internal capital and resources required to progress the project to the next stage, external funding is typically secured close to start of construction — this is the market norm.”

Balfour, from the Ontario Tourism Ministry, said Therme Canada will eventually be investing $700 million in upfront capital for the redevelopment of the West Island.

Work at the Ontario Place site has so far been undertaken by the Ontario government, which agreed to prepare the West Island for construction as part of its lease with Therme.

Construction at Ontario Place is expected to begin in 2026, with the spa scheduled to open in 2029.

The company’s other core projects are also years away from opening their doors.

Construction of Therme’s Bad Vilbel project, which it bought from another developer, has been delayed by several roadblocks, including COVID-19 and the death of its original planner.

According to local media reports, the cost to build the spa has risen to 400 million euros ($635 million), double what was originally announced.

The Bad Vilbel project’ design has “continued to evolve and we have agreed terms for external investment into the project,” Therme said.

On the site of the proposed Therme Manchester spa, a building was demolished in 2023 and the property was cleared in anticipation of the spa opening in 2025. But work stalled after an initial groundbreaking last fall. The property was still empty as of February 2025, according to local media reports.

Therme has attributed delays to a redesign of its building plans and the presence of rare orchids that had to be transplanted, local media reported. The cost of the project has also jumped from 250 million pounds ($459 million) to 400 million pounds ($735 million), though Therme said the original price tag was based on an old design and only factored in some of the costs of development.

“Manchester has a completed design, the budget has been fixed, external financing has been secured and we have already commenced site enabling works, following the satisfaction of the conditions imposed by our planning application,” Therme said, adding that it expects to begin building the spa there later this year.

— With files from Frédérik Plante and Sheila Wang