Magna International

• Author: Anita Indira Anand
• Pages: 141-148

141

 15

Magna International

Chapter 14 examined investors’ interests in rms with dual class

share (DCS) structures, which are classes of shares that allot more

votes per share than other classes of shares in the same corporation.

The OSC’s decision following the 2011 collapse of the DCS struc-

ture at Canadian automotive supplier Magna International, outlined

briey in Chapter 3, is worthy of further analysis because it illustrates

the potential for abuse that arises when a single shareholder wields

total control over a public corporation while holding only a minority

of equity. The decision also serves to show how the public interest

power, so central to investor protection in Canada, can be interpreted.

The Magna Transaction

Frank Stronach’s life was impressive. An immigrant to Canada of

Austrian origin, he started a rm called Multimac Investments in

1969. Multimac merged with Magna Electronics in 1973, and the

name was changed to Magna International, a maker of automotive

parts. Magna International grew to be a leading global automotive

supplier with 327 manufacturing operations and 100 product

development, engineering, and sales centres in twenty-nine coun-

tries. Today, Magna has over 161,000 employees.

1 Magna, “Press Release — Magna Announces Settlement of KS Centoco Litigation”

(29 September 2017), online: www.magna.com/company/newsroom/releases/release/

2017/09/30/press-release---magna-announces-settlement-of-ks-centoco-litigation.