The move by Rogers Communications Inc. and Altice USA to launch a hostile takeover bid for Cogeco Communications Inc. and parent Cogeco Inc. without the support of the Quebec companies’ controlling shareholder looks like a long-shot gamble to many experts. But they say similar past deals for family-controlled companies show there can be a path to victory […]

Chairman of the Institute for Governance Yvan Allaire says that the blunt response from Louis Audet suggests the family that owns Cogeco might not be open to negotiating a selling price. To access the interview with M. Allaire, please click here.

Yvan Allaire, executive chair at the Institute for Governance of Private and Public Organizations, joins BNN Bloomberg to discuss “quarterly capitalism” in light of WestJet CEO Ed Sims’ warning on the destruction it brings to long-term company plans. To watch this interview, please click here.  

For many family businesses, control of long-term direction and management of the family corporation are key issues, particularly during times of growth or periods of succession. The Institute for Governance of Private and Public Organizations (“IGOPP”) recently published a new policy paper that should be of interest to family businesses and their advisors in planning the capital […]

[ … ] The Quebec government has set aside $1-billion to encourage strategically important businesses to keep their head offices in the province, a measure Finance Minister Eric Girard says he could use to protect the Montreal executive suites of SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. Mr. Girard announced the measure Thursday in his Coalition Avenir Québec government’s […]

In Ottawa, there appears to be little sympathy these days for SNC-Lavalin, the giant engineering corporation facing prosecution for bribery schemes in Libya. The company was hoping to strike a deal with federal prosecutors in order to avoid a trial. If guilty, it would be cut off from lucrative Canadian government contracts for a decade. […]

The long series of scandals ensnaring SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.  has one former executive of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec calling for more accountability when it comes to corporate bribes for global contracts. Michel Nadeau, a former deputy chief executive of Caisse – the largest shareholder in SNC – told BNN Bloomberg on […]

In the wake of several high-profile takeovers of Quebec companies, such as Rona Inc. and Cirque du Soleil, the provincial government is implementing new measures aimed at promoting the growth of local businesses while maintaining corporate head offices in the province. Premier Philippe Couillard’s government said Tuesday it would set up a watchdog group to […]

More than six months after the fact, the sale of Rona to Lowe’s, a U.S. corporation, continues to generate political controversy. This raises the question: how many large Quebec corporations are vulnerable to a foreign takeover with the consequent loss, sooner or later, of the strategic functions associated with their head offices. Such a takeover […]

More than six months after the fact, the sale of Rona to Lowe’s, a U.S. corporation, continues to generate political controversy. Lowe’s’ first attempt to acquire Rona in 2012 turned more or less hostile in nature, sparking a strong reaction from the Quebec government at the time. The government ordered the financial institutions under its […]

It is a common lamentation (and a media favourite) to bemoan the passing of large Canadian companies into the hands of foreign owners. Quebec society, for a host of reasons, has been and remains particularly sensitive and reactive to these occurrences. Yet, no sovereign country can be indifferent to the fact that important economic decisions […]

MONTREAL — News coverage of Rona Inc. in recent years has described the Quebec-based hardware chain as “embattled,” “under-performing,” “struggling” and “slumping.” […] Yvan Allaire, president of the Montreal-based Institute for Governance, considers himself a nationalist when it comes to protecting key industries. For example he opposed Rio Tinto’s 2007 takeover of Alcan, which saw […]

Although smaller than Burger King, Tim Hortons (TI) is more profitable and better managed than Burger King. Their stock market valuation is comparable. Why then is it not Tim Hortons that is trying to buy Burger King? TI becomes a target of hedge funds One must recall that in early 2013, two activist funds (Scout […]

“Yvan Allaire’s recommendation would have securities regulators abdicate their statutory responsibilities. Despite having declared elsewhere that governance by directors of public corporations is “a fiduciary façade for shareholders … largely a mirage” (The limits of “good” governance: Confession of the former chairman of SNC-Lavalin, 2013), Mr. Allaire repeats his earlier argument, suggesting that securities regulators […]

“Quebec’s market watchdog says it is pursuing talks with other provinces to try to strike a compromise on changes to Canada’s takeover bid and defensive tactics regulation. “The vulnerability of our public companies is a Canadian problem, not only a Quebec one,” Louis Morisset, chief executive of the Autorité des marchés financiers, said in the […]

[…] «That may be true. As Yvan Allaire of Montreal’s Institute for Governance wrote in an opinion piece this week: “The legislative measures the working group is proposing are draconian.” Among them: Allowing Quebec companies to adopt variable voting rights that could increase the longer shares are held (the aim being to keep the influence […]