Canadian Judge Reinstates Edward Rogers As Company CEO

Rogers Communications Inc on Friday reinstated ousted Chairman Edward Rogers after a court backed his petition to constitute a new board, drawing curtains on a rare public battle for the control of a Canadian company even as the family feud showed no signs of ending.

Reuters reports the Supreme Court of British Columbia ruled in favour of Edward Rogers, handing a big victory to the late founder's son in a dispute that pitted him against his mother and sisters and had weighed on the stock.

The rare public fight in the Canadian corporate world was sparked over the question of who should lead the company, and some analysts have raised concerns the dispute could potentially impact Rogers' C$20 billion ($16.1 billion) bid for rival Shaw Communications.

But soon after the ruling, Edward Rogers said that he supported CEO Joe Natale, though the entire conflict was sparked after he tried and failed to remove Natale as chief executive, saying at the time he had lost confidence in Natale's ability to lead the combined entity after the Shaw deal.

"Much has been written about Rogers CEO Joe Natale and his future," Edward Rogers said in a statement after Friday's ruling. "Mr. Natale remains CEO and a director of Rogers Communications and has the Board's support."

He said the focus must now return to closing the Shaw deal, the company's biggest M&A.

Even as the brawl at the corporate level cooled off, the family fight showed no signs of easing. In a statement, the family matriarch, Loretta Rogers, and her two daughters said the ruling "represents a black eye for good governance and shareholder rights and sets a dangerous new precedent for Canada's capital markets by allowing the independent directors of a public company to be removed with the stroke of a pen."

"The company now faces a very real prospect of management upheaval and a prolonged period of uncertainty, at perhaps the worst possible time," the statement added.

Edward Rogers' attempt at dislodging Natale as CEO in September put him at odds with his mother and two sisters, who are Rogers directors. Edward Rogers - son of the late founder, Ted Rogers - lost out in the ensuing power struggle, and he was removed as the chair of Rogers Communications.

.Edward Rogers said the judgment confirmed that he had acted in accordance with the company's rule.

"Our family has disagreements like every other family. I am hopeful we will resolve those differences privately, as any family would," he added.

After he was removed as the chair of Rogers Communications, Edward Rogers constituted a new board that included himself as chairman, leveraging his power as chair of the family-owned Rogers Control Trust - which controls 97.5% of the company's voting shares - to do so. He then petitioned the Supreme Court of British Columbia to validate his slate of directors.