More obfuscationHi All,
In today's Globe and Mail "family-friendly" deal story they end with citing the Schneider/Maple Leaf Foods case as a precedent for allowing a family to sell a public company to a buyer that didn't offer the best price. For the lawyer wannabees in the crowd read the following:
https://nysba.org/NYSBA/Sections/International/Seasonal%20Meetings/Montreal%202018/Coursebook/Panel%2015/Maple%20Leaf%20Foods%20Inc.%20v.%20Schneider%20Corp.,%201998%20CanLII%205121.pdf
I repeat I am not a lawyer, but if this has any resemblance to our case I find it impossible to draw that conclusion. An unsolicited offer is made to the Schneider family that had voting control and was initially not interested in selling. A special committee was formed and 3 bidders emerged. The family came to believe that in order to survive they needed to merge with a larger company.
The outcome is complicated by tax considerations and exchange rates and some of the other back and forth of an auction process. In simple terms, it was a $29/share versus $25/share by Maple Leaf Foods. This represents a discount of 14%. The discount on the proposed Turdstar deal against the $1.30 offer is 43%.
It is a fantasy to say this has anything to do with this corrupt deal and represents lazy journalism.
The Voting Trust wants their money and they want it now. Fairfax has dictated the only way they will get any of it is to sell to Paulie Walnuts and Fredo. If that isn't an abuse of shareholder rights I don't know what is.
Fairfax controls 36% of the total shares and can stop any transaction. So in November 2017, when they bought 9.4 million shares at $1.25/share was the plan to hold the Voting Trust hostage for precisely this type of scenario?
They are screwing over the Voting Trust and all other shareholders because they can and that has to be exposed and stopped by the OSC.
The truth will come out.
MW