Two minority shareholders of Maple Leaf Gardens Ltd. (MLG)
have filed a motion to join the lawsuit against Steve Stavro,
Harold Ballard's estate executor and controller of MLG, according
to this morning's TORONTO STAR. The family of "sports
entrepreneur" Harry Ornest and Red Wings Senior VP Jim Devellano
have filed for "intervenor" status in order to "get relief and
challenge price valuations" on the 4% of MLG shares which they
hold. In an accompanying claim, Ornest and Devellano say estate
executors, including Stavro, have "conducted the affairs of Maple
Leaf Gardens in a manner that favored the interests of Stavro and
related corporate entities and was oppressive to the interests of
other shareholders." Ornest, Devellano and Ontario's Office of
the Public Trustee, already involved in the suit, believe the
estate's executors "should have offered the Gardens control block
on the open market in an effort to get a higher price." The
Trustee also claims the executors were in a "conflict of
interest, ignored financial advice on maximizing share values and
breached fiduciary duties to minority shareholders." The suit is
aimed at having the courts "unwind" the takeover and return the
shares to the estate for re-sale (Tony Van Alphen, TORONTO STAR,
10/12).
