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Maple Group extends $3.8 billion TMX Group takeover deadline to April 30

Published: 14:58 30 Mar 2012 EDT

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Maple Group announced Friday another extension of the deadline for its $3.8-billion takeover proposal for TMX Group (TSX:X), operator of the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Maple Group, a syndicate of 13 Canadian banks and pension funds, said the deadline to acquire a minimum of 70 percent of TMX shares has been extended until April 30, unless it is further extended or withdrawn.

The bid has already been through several extensions, the most recent expiring Friday.

Maple is still awaiting regulatory approval, following an announcement earlier this month, in which the two companies said securities regulators in Quebec and Ontario indicated they were moving closer to approving the offer.

Maple said the Autorité des marchés financiers was moving toward approval of the transaction, while the Ontario Securities Commission instructed its staff  to develop draft recognition orders with detailed terms and conditions. These will be subject to a 30-day public comment period.

Maple said the federal Competition Bureau remains the big hurdle for the takeover deal and it has signalled it would need to see "a significant and material change to the competitive consequences" of the proposed deal to address its serious concerns.

The deal also requires approval of regulators in Alberta and British Columbia.

"Maple will work to settle the terms and conditions of the recognition orders and to resolve outstanding issues and concerns raised by the securities regulatory authorities and the Competition Bureau," the group said in a release on Friday.

The company said there "can be no assurance that the required regulatory approvals will be obtained."

The Maple investors are also in active negotiations with the trading system Alpha Group and the Canadian Depository for Securities Ltd. (CDS), which clears stock trades, and their shareholders regarding the price and terms of those acquisitions. Maple had originally aimed to have concluded those takeovers prior to the closing of the TMX deal.

Maple said it will review and assess the progress of discussions with securities regulators, the Competition Bureau, Alpha, CDS and their investors and "other circumstances affecting the Maple transaction" while considering any further extensions.

It plans to extend the offer on or before April 30 if it is satisfied after that review.

The Maple consortium includes the Desjardins Financial Group, Dundee Capital Markets, GMP Capital (TSE:GMP), Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSE:TD), Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS), CIBC (TSE:CM) and National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA), as well as five pension funds, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Ontario Teachers’, Alberta Investment Management Corp., Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Fond de solidarite des travailleurs du Quebec.

TMX Group's board originally supported a merger proposal with the London Stock Exchange, but after the LSE deal failed to gain enough shareholder support in the face of Maple’s bid, the board turned its attention to the Maple offer.

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