Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. warned that it may not be able to get quick approval of a management buyout because of an “ongoing regulatory matter” at one of its foreign divisions. The shares dropped more than 11%.
A group of Canaccord senior executives has offered to take the financial firm private for C$11.25 a share, but regulators’ blessing for the deal won’t be given on an expedited basis, the company said Monday in a statement.
That means it’s unlikely the buyout will be done by the current expiration date of June 13, and there’s no guarantee it will be completed before financing commitments expire on Aug. 9, the company said. Canaccord was down 11.1% to C$9.27 as of 10:01 a.m. in Toronto.
HPS Investment Partners has arranged a C$825 million loan to fund the bid.
The management offer, led by Chief Executive Officer Dan Daviau and Chairman David Kassie, has been anything but smooth so far. A special committee of directors refused to support it, brandishing a report from Royal Bank of Canada that placed a higher valuation on the company. Those directors eventually resigned, under pressure from a major shareholder, and a new special committee of the board was put in place.
That committee is still assessing the management bid, which values Canaccord at more than C$1.1 billion ($825 million). It will also consider asset sales after the management buyout group agreed to drop a condition of its bid that prohibited the sale of any significant part of the business.
“The underlying regulatory matter, which arose in the company’s capital-markets business and has been ongoing in the ordinary course, is unrelated to the management offer,” the Canadian firm said.
(Updates with share price.)
