by Sandra Rubin

Shareholder activism has long been a reality in the United States but, like many trends, has been slow in making it big in Canada. Well, the time has finally come. Shareholder activism has arrived.

It was one afternoon in March when David Weinberger and John Ciardullo from the Toronto office of Stikeman Elliott LLP placed a call on behalf of Eugene Melnyk, one of their clients. The founder of Biovail Corp. had recently retired from the company he ran for the better part of two decades. He was very unhappy with the stock's sharp drop in price.

Melnyk wasn't prepared to sit idly by and do nothing. He was prepared to go to war with Biovail's board if that's what it took.

The Stikeman lawyers called Wes Hall, president and CEO of Kingsdale Shareholder Services.
Kingsdale, along with competitors such as Georgeson Shareholder Communications Canada and Laurel Hill Advisory Group, are “proxy solicitors” who, among other things, provide frontline tactical advice on disputes between companies and shareholders. And, boy, have they been busy.

When they got Hall on the phone, they wanted to know whether he was available to help Melnyk shake things up.