Corus Entertainment, whose Toronto head office is shown in September, will seek court approval for its recapitalization plan.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Corus Entertainment Inc. CJR-B-T says it will seek court approval of a recapitalization deal that would see its debtholders take ownership of the company after a shareholder vote on the proposal failed to pass.
The radio and television broadcaster says 99.9 of votes cast by senior noteholders were in favour of the proposal, as were 99.7 per cent of votes cast by Class A Shareholders.
However, holders of just 61.2 per cent of the publicly traded Class B shares who voted were in favour of the deal, falling short of the two-thirds threshold required to pass the resolution.
Corus posts $11.1-million net loss in first quarter
Under the agreement, first announced in November, $500-million of Corus’ senior notes would be exchanged for 99 per cent of the shares in the restructured company, and existing Corus shareholders would be expected to swap their holdings for shares representing one per cent of the new company.
Corus says it nevertheless believes the results demonstrate “strong overall support for the arrangement” and plans to seek court approval at a hearing scheduled for March 12.
Mark Hollinger, independent lead director of Corus’ board, says the recapitalization deal “is fair and reasonable and in the best interests of Corus and its stakeholders,” representing the “best viable option to secure Corus’ future while preserving the most shareholder value.”