In Eastern Platinum Limited v. Ren, 2024 BCCA 109, the BC Court of Appeal confirmed that where one activist shareholder’s proxy fight and subsequent derivative action fails, another shareholder represented by the same legal counsel can successfully obtain
This blog post is the first of a new series looking at recent developments in Canadian corporate litigation, with a slight bias towards Ontario. The goal is to provide regular updates on court decisions that are of interest to the
On February 1, 2023, our Special Situations team successfully obtained an order from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) requiring that
After nearly two years since the recreational cannabis industry has been in operation, we are seeing a rise in securities class actions and regulatory activity relating to cannabis companies. Since legalization, the growth of the sector has been fast and
It will come as no surprise to those who have participated in a proxy fight to learn that these disputes can be heated affairs. Parties to a fight will routinely seek to discredit the other side to bolster their own
Earlier this year, Commissioner Robert Jackson Jr. of the US Securities and Exchange Commission declared that cybersecurity is “the most pressing issue in corporate governance today.” Indeed, widespread digitization has fundamentally transformed the way that people do business, ushering in
Activist investors engaged in proxy fights typically mount aggressive public relations campaigns in order to undermine shareholder confidence in a target company’s performance and leadership, whether through social media, online forums or by using the more traditional PR channels. In
In its recent PointNorth Capital Inc. decision, the Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) was called upon to consider the appropriateness of a soliciting dealer arrangement that had been entered into by the issuer, Liquor Stores N.A. Ltd., in the context of
Proxy contests spill over into court for many reasons, but there are certain flashpoints of which both activists and issuers should be mindful. For activists, these are pitfalls to avoid, while for issuers they may represent opportunities to push back
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) recently confirmed that “demonstrated impropriety” is required to warrant court intervention in the appointment of an independent chair of a shareholders’ meeting in a proxy contest. In Meson Capital Partners, LLC v