Sep
05
In the last Briefcase we wrote about New York-based Philip Morris International’s bid to purchase Rothmans Inc. of Toronto. Today PMI announced it has extended the expiry of its offer of $30 a share to Sept. 16.
The company says it’s simply a procedural matter related to the last bit of regulatory approval required for the deal to proceed.
That bit of regulatory approval? Industry Minister Jim Prentice must determine if the deal satisfies the net benefit requirement under the Investment Canada Act. According to the company’s release it filed its application for review on July 31, 2008, but the review period runs for 45 days, which meant that its initial expiration date of Sept. 11 would have arrived before the end of the 45 days.
It will be interesting to see if Rothmans and PMI suffer the same fate as MDA and Alliant Techsystems Inc.
