'People get very sick': Manitoba sees rise in rare, potentially fatal bacterial infection
A rise in cases of a rare bacterial infection in Manitoba has prompted health officials to issue a warning.
Indigo Books & Music Inc. shareholders have voted to approve a deal that will see the retailer become a private company.
Shareholders voted Monday in favour of a $2.50 per share offer from Trilogy Retail Holdings Inc. and Trilogy Investments L.P., which have a 56 per cent stake in Indigo and are owned by Gerald Schwartz, the spouse of Indigo chief executive Heather Reisman.
The Trilogy companies originally offered $2.25 per share but raised their bid in April.
"We are pleased with the result of today's vote and look forward to continuing our work on Indigo's transformation strategy," Reisman said in a statement following the vote.
"We remain deeply committed to our customers and to all our stakeholders as we work together to inspire reading and enrich the lives of booklovers across the country."
Indigo spokesperson Madison Downey said in an email to The Canadian Press that Trilogy would not be commenting on the vote.
For Trilogy's offer to be accepted, it required approval by a two-thirds majority vote of Indigo shareholders and a simple majority vote by shareholders not linked to Trilogy and its affiliates.
Some 95.09 per cent of votes from shareholders represented at the meeting Monday were in favour of accepting the deal. Just shy of 83 per cent of the votes from shareholders not linked to Trilogy and affiliates were in support of the offer.
The privatization allows Indigo to avoid scruinty as it works to bring profitability and growth back to Canada's biggest bookstore.
"The rationale is not to be saddled with public reporting responsibilities because Indigo has been through a lot," said Richard Leblanc, a professor of governance, law and ethics at York University in Toronto, in February, when the Trilogy firms made their offer.
Trilogy now faces a hefty amount of work.
Indigo is still recovering from a cyber attack that downed its website for a lengthy period last year, a series of quarterly losses leading up to a January layoff, and a succession of changes that saw four of 10 board members depart last year with one claiming mistreatment and "a loss of confidence in board leadership."
Reisman, who retired amid the turmoil, returned within months to helm Indigo.
The issues have played out as inflation and high interest rates make many Canadians think twice about opening their wallets, especially for the discretionary items Indigo is known for.
The trend cropped up particularly in the holiday season, when Indigo executives admitted they had overbought merchandise and stocked an assortment of merchandise they found customers weren't looking for in the final weeks before Christmas.
"Despite all their best efforts, they are not doing well," Kai Li, the Canada Research Chair in corporate governance who teaches at the University of British Columbia, said of Indigo in February.
"They are bleeding cash."
To turn things around, Indigo has been carrying out a transformation plan since at least November. It's offered few specifics, but Reisman, who founded the chain in 1996, has said it is meant to "return Indigo to both growth and profitability."
In the months since she mentioned the plan, some stores have seen wellness products and the popular American Girl dolls culled from their shelves and Columbus Cafe & Co. has moved into some Indigo spaces previously held by Starbucks. Reisman has also pledged in newsletters to bring back its digital inventory search kiosks, program more events and add seating to more stores.
Given all the issues Indigo has faced, privatization "may be the shakeup Indigo needs," said Liza Amlani, principal and founder at the Retail Strategy Group consulting firm, in an email.
"Heather has a very clear point of view and she has a way of doing things. Now she has the literal manpower to do as she wishes, with her husband at the helm of Trilogy," Amlani said.
"We can only hope that privatizing Indigo will reimagine stores with a relevant product assortment mix. The retailer can't seem to get it right and excess inventory and low margins is proof of that."
Trilogy hasn't said much about its plans for Indigo beyond it wanting to take the company private, but no public opposition to the deal has mounted, likely because the money offered reflected a 69 per cent premium on the share price of $1.48 that Indigo had when Trilogy first made its bid.
Indigo's share price sat at $2.48 ahead of the Monday vote.
Last month, the offer garnered the support from a special committee of independent directors Indigo formed to assess the deal.
Earlier this month, Indigo also said that leading independent proxy advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis had recommended shareholders approve the deal.
Now that it has shareholder approval, Indigo said it will seek a final order from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Thursday and expects the deal to take effect on Friday. It anticipates its shares will be delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange sometime after.
A rise in cases of a rare bacterial infection in Manitoba has prompted health officials to issue a warning.
Residents of some provinces are being warned of extreme heat this week, while elsewhere, some saw record-breaking lows this weekend.
A third girl accused in the death of a homeless Toronto man has pleaded guilty. The teen, who was 13 at the time of the incident, pleaded guilty this morning to manslaughter in the death of Kenneth Lee.
The United States, Canada, Japan, and the Philippines conducted a two-day joint maritime exercise in Manila's exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea, the U.S. Pacific Fleet said on its website on Monday.
A new report says travellers are paying significantly more to fly within Canada this summer compared with last year.
The Trooping the Colour marked the first public outing this year for the Princess of Wales, who has not been seen at any official royal engagements since December 2023. We now know that was due to abdominal surgery and preventive chemotherapy, with no return to public life anytime soon. But the Princess of Wales chose this occasion to soft launch her return to royal life, and it was eagerly anticipated.
An Indian man suspected by the U.S. of involvement in an unsuccessful plot to kill a Sikh separatist on American soil pleaded not guilty on Monday to murder-for-hire conspiracy charges in a federal court in Manhattan.
The Transportation Safety Board says other unregistered submersibles have been operating within Canadian waters since the Titan made its doomed descent to view the Titanic wreck one year ago.
Gordon Ramsay says he’s grateful to be alive but shaken after a recent cycling accident in Connecticut.
For some, living on the moon is an idea that is truly out of this world. But for others, it’s a concept edging closer to reality.
Halifax chef Lauren Marshall was working in the Bahamas on a special event in February when she fainted and fell from a golf cart, hitting the back of her head.
The thunderstorm that hit Ottawa Thursday evening was accompanied by heavy rain and lightning that struck a house in Orléans.
Canadian and U.S. ironworkers shook hands across the border as the Gordie Howe bridge deck officially becomes an international crossing.
Age may be just a number to George Steciuk, but it’s just one of many that add up to one inspirational athlete.
It has taken more than 100 years, but Almonte’s forgotten soldier, George B. Monterville has had his name etched back into history.
For Father's Day, CP24.com and CTVNewsToronto.ca reached out to local politicians, community advocates, and other prominent figures in the city to ask them to share what important lesson they have learned from their dads.
Fancy Pokket owner Mike Timani has decided to create a 220-foot long flat bread to celebrate its 35th anniversary.
If certain goals that are in the Paris Climate Accord aren't met, the existence of polar bears in the Hudson Bay may come to an end.