Takeover bids are one of the two main ways to acquire a public company in Canada.
Most friendly acquisitions occur by a plan of arrangement under a negotiated arrangement agreement.
While a takeover bid can be used to effect a friendly deal, takeover bids typically occur where the bidder has made an unsolicited approach to a target but has been unable persuade the target’s board to agree to a negotiated transaction.
Our guide focuses on unsolicited takeover bids (sometimes called “hostile” bids) to assist both potential takeover bidders and targets.
We focus on those legal issues critical to pursuing or responding to an unsolicited bid in Canada together with the different practical and strategic issues such a bid can raise.
These include:
- Pre-takeover bid considerations
- Takeover bid process and time periods
- The target’s directors’ circular and directors’ duties
- Potential target defensive tactics
- Unsolicited takeover bids in Canada and the U.S. compared
- Key strategic considerations
For further information, contact any of the authors or any other Fasken M&A partner.
For Fasken’s guide to public M&A transactions in Canada under a plan of arrangement, see here.
For Fasken’s guide to directors’ duties and special committees in public M&A, see here.
For Fasken’s guide to shareholder activism in Canada, see here.
For Fasken’s other M&A thought leadership, visit our Capital Markets and M&A hub and subscribe.
