Alberta Securities Commission declines to exercise public interest jurisdiction to terminate soliciting dealer arrangement in proxy fight

By Linda Fuerst and The Special Situations Team on August 8, 2017 Posted in Litigation, Proxy Battles

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 a proxy fight. The arrangement was intended to address management’s constrained ability to solicit proxies … Continue reading

Proxy solicitation: Not a matter of right in Alberta

By The Special Situations Team on December 9, 2014 Posted in Corporate Finance, Corporate Governance, Proxy Battles, Securities, Shareholder Activism

The increasing prevalence of shareholder activism in Canada has significantly impacted issuers and investors alike in the Canadian capital markets. Consequently, an understanding of the Canadian regulatory landscape governing activist activities has become increasingly important for both sides of an activist struggle. A key element of this understanding is acknowledging that the regulatory landscape is … 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