Tuesday, July 23, 2013

23/07/13: Staniford to pay costs to Mainstream Canada; Cermaq sells Ewos; Nova Scotia starts aquaculture strategy

Anti-salmon farming activist Don Staniford has been ordered to pay Mainstream Canada CAD$75,000 in costs after the British Columbia Court of Appeal overturned a previous ruling in favour of Staniford.

The court unanimously ruled that lower-court judge, Justice Elaine Adair, erred when she dismissed Mainstream Canada's defamation lawsuit against Don Staniford and upheld the campaigner's defence of fair comment.

In 2011, Staniford ran an anti-salmon farming campaign which included mimicking cigarette packages with warnings like "Salmon Farming Kills Like Smoking."

"It is my opinion that the facts upon which Mr Staniford's defamatory comments were based were not all notorious, contained in the defamatory publications or sufficiently referenced to be contained in other specified documents," said Justice David Tysoe.

The Court of Appeal granted Mainstream Canada special costs based on the activist's behaviour during the trial.

"The appropriate way to punish Mr Staniford for his reprehensible conduct in the litigation is to award Mainstream special costs against him," wrote Tysoe in the judgment handed down on July 22, 2013.

Cermaq has entered into a definitive agreement for the sale of its EWOS business to Altor Fund III GP Limited and Bain Capital Europe, LLP (collectively referred to as Altor and Bain Capital). The purchaser is a Norwegian company established by funds advised by Altor and Bain Capital for this purpose.

The transaction is structured as a sale and purchase of shares in certain Cermaq subsidiaries and certain assets and liabilities thereof. The aggregate agreed consideration implies an enterprise value of EWOS of NOK 6.5 billion, and will enable Cermaq to free up significant funds. Such funds will be used to reduce debt to ensure a continued solid capital structure and compliance with all financing commitments for the remaining operations, and to realize an extraordinary dividend to the shareholders. Subject to completion of the transaction, the company expects an extraordinary distribution to Cermaq's shareholders of around NOK 4.5 - 5.0 billion, or between NOK 48 and NOK 54 per share. 

The government of Nova Scotia, Canada is seeking feedback from communities in the first step in developing an aquaculture strategy. The project is set to take 18 months before it is submitted to the government. A draft will be released to the public before it is submitted in summer 2014.

More information on the process, including information on how to provide feedback...


Map of Nova Scotia, Canada
Map of Nova Scotia, Canada (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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