Actions multivotantes: publication d’un important rapport de recherche

Le Pr Robert Yalden de l’Université Queen’s vient de publier un important rapport de recherche sur les actions multivotantes au Canada. Le rapport Dual Class Share Structures: Recent Developments and Emerging Issues est le fruit de réflexions amorcées à l’occasion d’une table-ronde tenue en décembre 2021 à laquelle j’ai eu le privilège de participer et qui réunissait des régulateurs, des praticiens, des intermédiaires, des investisseurs et des universitaires.

Le rapport aborde les thèmes suivants:

1. Market participants and regulators involved in developing the framework that shapes DCS
   structures must keep an eye firmly on global developments.
2. North American institutional investors are focused on identifying founder led companies with high-growth potential. As a result, they regularly invest in founder led companies that adopt a DCS structure prior to going public, provided that certain constraints are built into the DCS structure.
3. Some market driven constraints on DCS structures are now well accepted; others are more
   controversial.
4. Given that market dynamics are constraining DCS structures and given global competition for new listings, it is unlikely that in the short term regulators in North America will move aggressively to regulate the terms of DCS structures.
5. Whereas the focus in the past has tended to be on ensuring that SVS holders can participate in change of control transactions on an equal footing with MVS holders, increasingly the regulatory focus is on governance and disclosure issues that affect SVS holders.
6. Notwithstanding the prevalence of DCS structures in North America, there is evidence of
   informational inefficiency in IPO pricing that is a particularly acute problem for smaller issuers adopting DCS structures. It may well be that investors would be better off if some DCS companies were not brought to the public markets.
7. Sustained and informed discussion is essential if Canada is to deal with DCS structures effectively.

Une lecture qui s’impose pour toute personne qui s’intéresse à la gouvernance d’entreprise.