The family feud over control of Canadian telecommunications company Rogers Communications intensified on Tuesday when Edward Rogers filed a court motion to confirm his newly constituted board of directors, a move that was immediately challenged by his mother and sisters.
Edward, son of Ted Rogers, the founder of Rogers Communications Inc, was ousted as chairman of Rogers Communications last week after trying to remove the company’s chief executive officer Joe Natale in late September.
Following his removal as chairman of Rogers Communications, Edward used his position as chairman of Rogers Control Trust, a unit owned by the Rogers family that owns a majority of voting shares in the company, to form a new board on Sunday that recognized him as chairman.
While RCI had disputed the legality of Edwards’ move, the original board, which includes his mother Loretta Rogers and sisters Melinda Rogers-Hixon and Martha Rogers, appointed board member John MacDonald as chairman and backed Natale as the company’s CEO.
The Supreme Court of British Columbia will meet on November 1 to decide on the legality of Edward Rogers’s plan to reconstitute the Company’s Board of Directors by means of a written resolution without consulting a shareholder meeting.