PHOTO:
SHUTTERSTOCK
CONTESTED M&A
THE PROVINCIAL AND territorial securities
regulators – known collectively as the Canadian
Securities Administrators (CSA) – are making
significant changes to the regime governing take-
over bids.
e new rules, announced in late February,
are intended to provide the boards of target com-
panies with more time to respond to unsolicited
take-over bids and, not incidentally, free the regu-
lators from having to decide on a case-by-case basis
how long bids should remain open.
(In Canada, the only way to acquire legal con-
trol of a public company without the consent of
the target board is to submit a take-over bid di-
rectly to the shareholders.)
e new rules, set to take effect in May 2016, are
expected to redress the balance between bidders
on the one side, and targets and their shareholders
on the other. Opinion is divided on whether the
changes will significantly affect deal flow.
The New
Regime
THE CANADIAN
SECURITIES
ADMINISTRATORS'
AMENDMENTS TO
THE CANADIAN TAKE-
OVER BID REGIME
WILL DRAMATICALLY
ALTER CONTESTED
TRANSACTIONS
BY SHELDON GORDON
10 LEXPERT
|
2016
|
WWW.LEXPERT.CA