Toronto (Canada) – Today, Fasken released its Canadian Proxy Contest Study: 2020 Update, a review of formal proxy contests in Canada last year.
Highlights from the 2020 Update include:
- The volume of board-related contests reached a low point
- Contest outcomes were split evenly between management and dissidents
- Dissidents had success with broadcast-only board-related contests
- Mid/large cap issuers became the focus of attention
- The universal proxy card became a more common tool
“This is the lowest number of formal board-related contests since we began tracking data in 2007,” said Brad Freelan, Partner, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) group. “Management won half the contests outright, while dissidents achieved some or all of their objectives in the other half of contests. Dissidents continued to perform well in broadcast-only board-related contests.”
“We noticed a couple of new trends in 2020,” said Dana Gregoire, Fasken Associate. “Most of the action occurred among mid/large cap companies, rather than primarily micro caps. The use of universal proxy cards also became more frequent, although they were primarily used by dissidents.”
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