MONTREAL – A poison pill defence set up by pulp producer Fibrek Inc. (TSX:FBK) to thwart a $130-million hostile takeover bid by Resolute Forest Products (TSX:ABH) has been ordered quashed on the same day the bid is set to expire.
Resolute said Thursday that the Bureau de decision et de revision (Quebec) has ordered that all rights and securities issued or issuable under Fibrek’s shareholder rights plan to be cease traded effective as of 3 p.m. eastern time on Monday.
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The bureau is an administrative tribunal with jurisdiction in securities law and regulatory issues.
Resolute, formerly known as AbitibiBowater, had earlier extended its takeover deadline until Feb. 13 at 5 p.m. while awaiting the regulator’s decision.
The deadline remains in force unless “extended or withdrawn,” Resolute said Thursday.
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Fibrek’s leadership has rejected the Resolute takeover offer as too low and set up the shareholder rights plan to either thwart the deal or at least give the company time to find a more palatable alternative.
Late last month Fibrek chairman Hubert Lacroix said the company was in “serious discussions with a number of interested parties concerning potential value-maximizing transactions.”
There has been no word on progress in the talks since then.
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