Magnotta Winery Corp., a wine producer based in the Toronto area, says the Magnotta family has withdrawn plans to take the business private, due to the number of dissents received from minority shareholders ahead of vote, which was to be held Thursday.
The company said the proposed going private transaction announced Feb. 6 in which Gabriele and Rossana Magnotta, the winemaker's principal shareholders, were to acquire all of the outstanding common shares of the company at $2.37 a share won't proceed. The proposed going-private transaction was to have merged the company with a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Magnottas' holding company, Magnotta Family Holdings Ltd.
Magnotta said the deal, valued at about $19.9-million, collapsed because more than five per cent of shareholders objected to the plan in proxies filed ahead of the meeting to vote on the plan.
The company has 13.9 million outstanding common shares, with the Magnottas holding 60.5 per cent and minority shareholders owning 39.5 per cent.