Setting the stage for Dundee Corp.’s Blue Goose to go public

It’s merely a small step but there’s finally what’s promising out of Dundee Corp., the holding company that has interests inside a slew of industries including investment advisory, corporate finance, energy, resources, property and infrastructure.

The great news: a good investment Dundee made in a recently formed unit more than four years back seems set to visit public using a reverse takeover with a Gulfstream Acquisition 1 Corp., a capital pool company whose shares are on the TSX-Venture Exchange.

This week Gulfstream announced it had signed a non-binding letter of intent with Blue Goose Capital Corp. (Dundee acquired a majority stake in Blue Goose in 2011, right after creating Dundee Agricultural.) Plans demand that intent to be turned into a definitive agreement.

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For Gulfstream the proposed acquisition is going to be its qualifying transaction considering that it is buying Blue Goose. Once the merger is finished, Blue Goose will end up a public company and Dundee will have monetized one of its investments.

Blue Goose, whose net assets in Dundee’s last annual report (March 2015) were listed at $86.13 million, is focused “on the production, distribution and sale of organic and natural beef, chicken and fish.” Dundee has an 87 percent curiosity about Blue Goose, that has operations across Canada: It’s organic beef cattle operations along with a hay-making business in B.C.; as well as an organic and natural poultry business in addition to a fish farming business in Ontario.



Blue Goose, which has been around since 1992, was formed “with one man’s need to feed his family neat and nutritious protein, and also the belief that should you take care of your land and animals, they will look after you.” In each from the last financial years Blue Goose has posted a loss.

For the qualifying transaction to proceed, numerous steps need to be taken: Blue Goose has to raise $20 million; the two sides have to complete their due diligence; the shareholders of Blue Goose need to approve the deal; and also the TSX-Venture needs to sign off.

TASEKO BATTLE

The proxy battle being fought by Raging River, a shareholder and bond holder at Taseko Mines – is similar to many others that have occurred over the years: The dissident wants change in the company mainly because of either management’s poor performance or governance issues; the organization typically resists; and the fight continues until its clear that one side is set for victory.

Along the way there’s lot of mud slinging. Thursday wasn’t any exception. In the morning Taseko issued an argument saying Raging River had failed to disclose a corporate bankruptcy of 1 of “its proposed nominees for Taseko’s Board.” (Within the afternoon Taseko made a second release announcing the resignation of 1 of their directors “effective immediately.”)

In its first release, Taseko said Raging River “explicitly denied” the involvement of their four director nominees with any bankruptcies within the previous Ten years, a requirement under Canadian law. In that release, Taseko included an attachment detailing the bankruptcy settlement agreement with one of Raging River’s nominees.

By the afternoon, Raging River indicated it’s “commencing a defamation lawsuit with the aim of elevating the tenor of the debate to focus on the actual issues of Taseko.”

Given that the meeting date is May 10, there are many time for more arrows to become fired by each side.

bcritchley@nationalpost.com