Tuckamore Capital Management Inc. is postponing its annual meeting.Alan Egginton/Getty Images/iStockphoto
Tuckamore Capital Management Inc. is postponing a special meeting of shareholders as opponents to its proposed buyout deal appear to be gaining strength.
Tuckamore's management is attempting to privatize the company in a 75-cent-a-share management-led buyout in a partnership with private equity firm Birch Hill. But it has been challenged by a group of shareholders who have demanded a higher price.
Tuckamore tried to push back the dissidents, led by Access Holdings Management, by showing that Access previously made a private bid to purchase stock for less than the 75 cents offered now.
But it seems the opponents are gaining ground and rallying supporters. In a press release Thursday, Access said it predicts that 45 per cent of Tuckamore's outstanding shares will vote against management's buyout, up from the 25 per cent of shareholders that had previously come out in public opposition to the proposal.
Access only needs one-third of the shares actually voted at the meeting to vote against the deal in order to stop it, and it now believes the numbers are in its favour.
But Tuckamore said Friday morning that it would delay its shareholder meeting and the vote by about two weeks, buying a bit of time. The company said that, in accordance with an interim order from the Ontario Superior Court, it would adjourn the July 15 meeting and hold the meeting on July 31.
Access already said in its last statement that it would "oppose any attempts to disenfranchise any Tuckamore shareholders…through stalling tactics or through frivolous or vexatious legal positioning and proceedings."
Tuckamore's shares are trading at 79 cents Friday morning, indicating that the market still thinks there's room for improvement in management's offer.
Correction: An earlier version of this story published online said Access needed two-thirds of shares voted to stop the deal. In fact, it only needs one-third.