CANADA: Canada Prime Minister critical of hostile Canada takeovers

Thursday February 9 2012

It has been reported that Canada’s prime minister drew a clear line in the sand on foreign takeovers on Friday, saying he wanted to see BlackBerry maker Research In Motion grow “as a Canadian company” and questioned whether hostile Canada takeovers of key domestic firms are in the country`s best interests. Stephen Harper declined to speculate on how the government might react if a foreign firm put in a bid for hard-pressed RIM. But he singled out hostile Canada takeovers and bids for what he described as “critical technology” companies as ones that the government might block. Harper insisted that his Conservative government is still open to foreign investment, and noted that it had vetoed only two would-be takeovers. But not every foreign bid is good for Canada, he said.

This information will be updated once more details become available.