An oil well is seen in this file photo.Denny Thurston/Getty Images/iStockphoto
Investors fighting to keep Pace Oil & Gas Ltd. independent have a powerful new ally in their fight, with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board weighing in on their side.
Nova Bancorp., a pace shareholder, is pushing to stop a planned combination involving Pace, Avenex Energy Corp. and Charger Energy Corp. Nova believes that the sale process for Pace was too limited and did not drum up a bid that fairly valued the company. Nova has a public campaign going, has set up a web site and has approval from securities regulators to rally support under proxy solicitation rules.
On its own web site, CPPIB said that it would vote against the transaction at the special meeting scheduled for Feb. 19.
CPPIB's vote against the deal is no doubt welcome, but it is likely going to be more helpful as a symbol than anything else. Pace has about 47 million shares outstanding, and CPPIB held about 284,000 shares as of its last disclosure.
(Boyd Erman is a Globe and Mail Capital Markets Reporter & Streetwise Columnist.)
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