Alexander Schmitt (Toronto)

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Corporate governance principles: The start of a new conversation?

By Alexander Schmitt (Toronto) on September 16, 2016 Posted in Corporate Governance

On July 21 2016, the CEOs of thirteen high-profile public companies, asset managers and pension and mutual funds released the Commonsense Principles of Corporate Governance. The signatories include some of the most respected names in American business and were headlined by Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Mary Barra of General Motors, Larry Fink of … Continue reading

Delaware North? The (potential) rise of appraisal litigation in Canada

By Alexander Schmitt (Toronto) on October 8, 2015 Posted in Corporate Finance

This blog post originally appeared in Norton Rose Fulbright’s M&A blog. Under Delaware law and most Canadian corporate statutes, a shareholder who votes against a fundamental transaction—such as a going-private transaction or a sale of all or substantially all of the corporation’s assets—is entitled to object to the consideration offered and in turn require payment of … Continue reading

Why Are Activist Investors Drawn to Canada?

By Alexander Schmitt (Toronto) on May 26, 2014 Posted in Corporate Governance, Proxy Battles, Securities, Shareholder Activism, Uncategorized

Over the past decade, proxy contests have gone from a once rare phenomenon to a standard feature of the Canadian corporate world and as the number of contests have increased, so too have activists’ success rates. To some extent these trends have been driven by greater acceptance of activists’ efforts in the wider investment (and … Continue reading