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January 30, 2003 - Statement by RONA Inc. regarding the rejection |
Statement by RONA Inc. regarding the rejection of the injunction application in the sale of Matco Ravary Inc.
Boucherville, January 30, 2003 – In a judgment handed down yesterday by Justice Dionysia Zerbisias of the Quebec Superior Court, RONA Inc. (TSX:RON) was refused an injunction application to require that Matco Ravary present the purchase offer for all of its assets to its shareholders and to require two-thirds of its shareholders to ratify the offer. |
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“We are disappointed by this judgment, which does not take into account the interests of all Matco Ravary shareholders,” remarked Robert Dutton, president and CEO of RONA Inc. “RONA effectively owns 30% of Matco Ravary shares and as a shareholder we are concerned about the future of the company which, once the sale is concluded, will become nothing but a holding company, with no stores and no products. A special meeting of all shareholders would have shed some light on this transaction and on the future of the company.”
On November 18, 2002, Matco Ravary’s board of directors accepted a purchase offer for all of its assets. The sale will take place on or before February 28, 2003. Carmel Chaput, chairman of Matco Ravary, and Gilles Nolet, president of Matco Ravary, hold 47% of the voting shares of the company.
Moreover, Matco Ravary is also a RONA shareholder. “It’s the first time ever in more than 64 years in business that RONA has had to resort to court procedures of this nature against one of its dealer-owners,” Mr. Dutton explained. “Our shareholder rights have been badly abused during the course of this sale and we intend to see that they are respected,” he concluded.
From 1988 until last December 17, RONA was Matco Ravary’s main supplier of hardware products and construction materials. Matco Ravary’s purchases represented 1% of RONA’s sales volume and 1/10 of 1% of its net income.
RONA operates a network of some 540 franchised, affiliated and corporate stores of various sizes and formats with approximately 16,000 employees under various banners across Canada. The RONA network of stores totals some 10 million square feet and does close to $3 billion in annual retail sales. |
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Source:
Sylvain Morissette
Director of Communications
RONA inc.
Tel.: (514) 599-5123
Toll free: 1-877-599-5900 poste 5123
Email: mors@rona.ca. |
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