Chaini Parwani –
Published On: October 27, 2021 at 14:47 IST
The Family Dispute for control of Canadian Telecom Company Rogers Communications Inc. has Intensified as Edward Rogers has filed a Court Petition to validate his reconstituted board, a move that has been swiftly argued by his mother and sisters.
Edward Rogers, son of Late founder Ted Rogers, has been erroneous with his mother and two sisters over who should lead the Company after he made efforts to remove Chief Executive Officer Joe Natale in late September.
However, due to which Edward Rogers was being removed as Chairman of Rogers Communications last week.
Further Edward Rogers hit back by using his position as Chairman of the Rogers Control Trust (RCI), the family-owned entity that owns the majority of voting shares in the company, to initiate a new board on Sunday, which acknowledged him as Chairman.
Furthermore, Rogers Communications Inc. argued the legitimacy of this move.
The Supreme Court of British Columbia will hear the case on November 1.
The submissions by Rogers Communications Inc and the Trust about the legitimacy of Edward Rogers’ attempt on Tuesday to reconfigure the board through a Written Resolution without conducting a meeting of shareholders, will be Heard by the Supreme Court in the Trial.
The Original Board, including Edward Roger’s mother and two sisters, posted board member John MacDonald as Chairman and backed Natale.
The documents shed new light on the fractures within the Rogers clan and the sequence of events that provoked the aggrieved struggle for Control at Canada’s largest wireless Company.
MacDonald stated that Edward Rogers’s assertion that the board had voted to remove Natale as CEO was untrue and he planned to “Fully set the record straight” when given the freedom through the Court procedure.
The Ontario Securities Commission requested for interpretation from Edward Rogers about the uncertainty highlighted by the row.
RCI operates under a unique ownership structure wherein 10 people close to late founder Ted Rogers, including his four children and widow, several longtime family friends and Loretta’s nephew, sit on the Advisory Committee of the Rogers Control Trust.
The Trust owns 97.5 percent of Class A voting shares in RCI.
