Business industry observers and analysts began to warn of a lack of clarity over who is really in charge and predict difficulty ahead for Rogers, while ousted board chair
His mother, sisters and several other board members dispute that claim, saying his re-election meeting was illegitimate and that the five members who were replaced by
With Edward's faction saying it will take their case to the
"The longer this drags out, who makes the deals? Who signs the papers? Is it the hands of the new board or the old board?" asked
Until a court rules or both sides come to a consensus, Powers believes questions like these will dog the company and hold up not just day-to-day business but also strategic moves.
Caught in the middle will be Rogers CEO
Edward, the son of late company founder
Edward's mother
All three hold board seats at the company.
Powers suggested that it will be difficult for Natale to stay on, regardless of the outcome.
"If Edward is successful, even partially successful, you really have to wonder if
Edward's odds of removing Natale are high because he remains chair of the
To oust Edward from his role as trust chair, two-thirds or 67 per cent of the 10-person board would need to vote in support of removing him.
Whichever faction comes out on top will have to deal with the company's plan to acquire
The
Shaw's executive chairman and CEO
"The longer this drags out, it puts that deal at risk, particularly if the stock price starts to drop," Powers said.
Rogers originally agreed to buy Shaw for
"At what point do they renegotiate?" said Powers. "Why would you pay
"Collateral damage now seems inevitable, and in our view, will only grow the longer a definitive resolution takes," they said in a Monday note to investors.
Without an immediate and definitive resolution to the ongoing dispute, McReynolds and Gray see two sources of "collateral damage irrespective of the ultimate solution."
The first is an executive management team that is less effective over the next year while it faces continued challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic and intensifying competition as telecommunications companies race to launch fibre-to-the-home technology.
McReynolds and Gray think the existing board will be "distracted, if not handicapped" as the boardroom battle goes on and
The second source of collateral damage, they say, will be "a difficult (but not impossible) road back to restoring investor confidence" around governance and the executive team.
"There isn't it a morning or evening that has passed, where Melinda hasn't said to me ... is there a path to settlement?" he said.
Asked whether she will pursue legal action or try to alter Rogers' corporate structure, Soliman said his client is still "observing the situation carefully" and "not looking to rewrite her father's will."
"The structure that
Meanwhile,
This report by
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