Court approval was obtained in the face of concerted opposition from a group of institutional shareholders. The approval granted by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice was confirmed on appeal by the Ontario Divisional Court (2010).
The transaction was also challenged by the Ontario Securities Commission (the “OSC”). The OSC determined that the arrangement was not abusive of shareholders or the capital markets, however, required Magna to provide additional specific and detailed disclosure to enable Magna’s shareholders to make an informed decision as to how to vote in light of the circumstances of this particular transaction.
The Magna case was the first contested plan of arrangement to be decided since the Supreme Court of Canada’s 2008 decision in BCE v. 1976 Debentureholders, which is the leading case on the arrangement approval process
Osler represent Magna with a team lead by Jean Fraser, Emmanuel Pressman, Jeremy Fraiberg (corporate/securities) and included Mark Gelowitz, Larry Lowenstein, Laura Fric, Craig Lockwood and Lauren Tomasich (litigation).