Todd Melchior

Beyond Governance – A Canadian perspective on pre-empting activism through shareholder value creation

By Todd Melchior on September 21, 2015 Posted in Shareholder Activism

In collaboration with The Boston Consulting Group and RBC Capital Markets, our Canadian Special Situations Team has released a paper offering a fresh perspective on defensive strategies addressing the spectre of shareholder activism. The paper argues that in developing a sound defense, good governance practices are vital, but should not be relied upon as a … Continue reading

CSA issues progress report on its review of Proxy Voting Infrastructure

By Todd Melchior on February 3, 2015 Posted in Securities

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) recently provided an update on their ongoing review of proxy voting infrastructure. The progress report follows the publication of CSA Consultation Paper 54-401 Review of the Proxy Voting Infrastructure in August 2013 (the Consultation Paper). The Consultation Paper examined two issues: (i) the accuracy of vote reconciliation in the current … Continue reading

2014 Q3 Proxy Update

By Todd Melchior on October 30, 2014 Posted in Corporate Finance, Corporate Governance, Litigation, M&A, Proxy Battles, Restructuring, Securities, Shareholder Activism

The 2015 proxy season is fast approaching, PwC and Broadridge released a quarterly research report which reviews proxy related data from 4,113 shareholder meetings held between January 1 and June 30, 2014 and highlights several themes and trends that may inform how shareholders and companies will interact on four key issues: Director Elections: Director elections continue to attract widespread … Continue reading

Is Shareholder Activism Hurting Bondholders?

By Todd Melchior on March 17, 2014 Posted in Corporate Finance, Proxy Battles, Shareholder Activism, Uncategorized

A recently released research report by Moody’s Investors Service examines the credit impacts of activist shareholder activity, arguing that shareholder initiatives do not always benefit bondholders. In fact, the report suggests that the means by which shareholders drive change in capitalization and strategy, including through share repurchases, increased dividends and divestitures of cash-generating assets, often … Continue reading