PrefBlog

RSM Richter has announced:

that the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) ( the “Court”) issued an order authorizing the Receiver, on behalf of Argus, to consent to a cease trade order (the “Argus CTO”) to be issued by the Ontario Securities Commission (the “OSC”). The date upon which the Argus CTO will be issued has not yet been determined.

The Argus CTO will apply to all securities of the Company but will contain carve-outs to permit trades in the Company’s securities that are made: (i) in connection with the Company’s Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (Canada) proceedings or receivership proceedings and as approved by the Court; (ii) for nominal consideration for the purpose of permitting a holder to crystallize a tax loss; or (iii) by or to an entity that qualifies as an “accredited investor” as that term is defined under applicable Canadian securities laws. Provided that with respect to (ii) and (iii) a copy of the Argus CTO is provided and the seller receives an acknowledgment that the Argus securities remain subject to the Argus CTO.

The Receiver is to maintain a transfer registry for exempt trades until January 31, 2010, which is to be funded from the Argus estate account maintained by the Receiver.

The Company has also been advised by the Toronto Stock Exchange (the “TSX”) that, provided the Argus CTO is granted, the TSX will initiate a process that will lead to the delisting of the Company’s Class A Preference Shares Series $2.50, Class A Preference Shares Series $2.60 and Cumulative Class B Preference Shares Series 1962 from the TSX following the issuance of the Argus CTO.

The Argus CTO is being issued as a result of the Company’s failure to (i) file audited annual financial statements, and other financial information for years ended December 31, 2005, 2006, and 2007; (ii) interim financial statements for the fiscal periods ended March 31 and June 30, 2008; and (iii) comply with other regulatory requirements. The Receiver also announced that in the interests of reducing costs for the benefit of its stakeholders, it would be discontinuing the preparation and filing on a bi-weekly basis the status reports required under the terms of the Management Cease Trade Order issued on June 1, 2004 by the OSC.

AR.PR.B was tracked by HIMIPref™ until the low price caused mechanical problems. AR.PR.A and AR.PR.D have not been tracked by HIMIPref™.

Update, 2008-7-23: The TSX has announced:

Pursuant to an Order issued on July 21, 2008 by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) (the “Court”) the Company, by its receiver and manager, interim receiver and monitor, RSM Richter Inc., has been authorized by the Court to consent to the delisting of Argus Corporation Limited’s Class A Preference Shares Series $2.50 (Symbol: AR.PR.A), Class A Preference Shares Series $2.60 (Symbol: AR.PR.D) and Cumulative Class B Preference Shares Series 1962 (Symbol: AR.PR.B) (collectively the “Securities”). Accordingly, TSX will delist the Securities at the close of market on August 22, 2008 for failure to meet the continued listing requirements of TSX. The Securities of the Company are currently halted due to the imposition of a Cease Trade Order by the Ontario Securities Commission. In addition, the Securities have been suspended from trading by TSX effective immediately.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008 at 5:38 pm and is filed under Issue Comments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.