New Competition Bureau Policy on Information Sharing in Reviews of Hostile Bids

On June 2, 2010, the Canadian Competition Bureau released a statement on its disclosure policy in the context of hostile or unsolicited bids (the "Policy").

In the past, Bureau practice has been unsettled as to the extent to which it has been prepared to advise a company which is the target of a hostile bid about the status of the Bureau's review of the proposed transaction. In some cases, the Bureau has not been prepared to tell the target anything other than to advise of the existence of a pre-merger notification filed by the bidder, a notification which is required by the Competition Act in any event, and triggers an obligation of the target to make its own filing. In recent years, the Bureau has on occasion shown more inclination to provide more information to the target.