New Biovail board vote set for Aug. 8

Biovail Corp. said Monday it will hold a new vote for the election of its board of directors on Aug. 8.

An Ontario Supreme Court judge on July 16 ordered the Toronto-based pharmaceutical company to reconvene its annual meeting so investors can vote again on a board of directors. Justice Herman Siegel had given the company a maximum of 90 days from the original June 25 meeting to hold a new vote.

At the company's June annual meeting, founder Eugene Melnyk and his backers withdrew their votes from the board election, leaving less than 51 per cent of the shares outstanding represented. Melnyk had proposed his own dissident slate of directors.

Melnyk's representatives then walked out of the meeting after the directors passed a bylaw saying that only 25 per cent of the stock was needed for a quorum.

After the bylaw was passed, 97.6 per cent of the votes cast at the meeting backed the management slate of directors, but that was after Melnyk's supporters withdrew their proxies.

Melnyk is also the owner of the Ottawa Senators hockey club.

In trading on the TSX on Monday, Biovail shares rose 11 cents, closing at $10.43.

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