The board of Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. is telling shareholders to reject the $1.1-billion offer from a management-led group seeking to take the company private.
The special committee evaluating the offer was unanimous in its recommendation, citing the fact that the offer’s conditions are not expected to be satisfied prior to the June 13 deadline, the board said in a shareholder supplement dated June 4.
On Friday, the management-led group looking to take Canaccord private said there was “no reasonable chance” the conditions of the offer would be met by the deadline.
According to the supplement, the committee considered the risk that “the failure of the transactions contemplated in the offer […] will likely have an adverse impact on the market price or trading value of common shares in the public markets.”
The management group has offered $11.25 per common share and is led by CEO Dan Daviau and chairman David Kassie.
Last month, Canaccord warned that an unrelated regulatory issue at one of its subsidiaries meant regulatory approval for the deal likely wouldn’t come before the offer deadline or before financing commitments expire on Aug. 9.
The management group launched its bid to take the firm private in January. Members of a special committee reviewing the bid opposed the offer but later resigned, making way for members more sympathetic to management’s offer.
Canaccord also said in early May that it’s opening up proposals to sell individual parts of the company, which had previously been prohibited as part of the bid.
As of May 31, the special committee had not received any proposals for a full purchase of Canaccord Genuity, but had received “preliminary indications of interest” in the company’s wealth businesses, the supplement said.