Mason Capital, a New York-based hedge fund, on Thursday decided to cut its ownership stake in Canadian incumbent telco Telus (Toronto: T.TO).
In a regulatory filing, Mason, which has been engaged in a battle with Telus since last spring over how many shares it should be able to own, said its common voting has fallen to 5.9 million shares.
Now, the hedge fund has about 3.4 percent of the common shares, down from the approximately 19 percent it once held in the company.
"This confirms Mason Capital has sold down its empty voting position in TELUS, selling off 26.9 million of the 32.8 million common shares they held when they last reported, while similarly reducing its short trading position," Telus Chief Corporate Officer Josh Blair said in a statement.
At issue for Mason was that Telus had two share classes--common and non-voting. These classes were developed to follow Canada's ownership rules for incumbent telcos.
While both the common and non-voting shareholders voted to approve the conversion, Mason did not. In December, the B.C. Supreme Court ruled against its protest to get a premium for voting shares.
Mason, according to a Globe and Mail article, has appealed the ruling, but a hearing date has not been set.
For more:
- The Globe and Mail has this article
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