Landlord for Whistler, Surrey brewpubs may face corporate shakeup after court ruling
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A dispute between shareholders of a B.C. numbered company that serves as a landlord for two well-known brewpubs has ended up in court.
A dispute between shareholders of a B.C. numbered company that serves as a landlord for two well-known brewpubs has ended up in court.
A decision issued in B.C. Supreme Court last week and posted online Friday found that a 1996 agreement between shareholders in 471469 B.C. Ltd. – the landlord for High Mountain Brewing in Whistler and Big Ridge Brewing in Surrey – is still valid and binding on the current shareholders.
That means a notice from one of the company's owners invoking the agreement's so-called "shotgun clause" was legitimate – according to Justice Jan Brongers' decision – and the other owners will likely have to either sell their shares for $13.5 million or buy the first owner's shares for the same price.
The dispute over the numbered company arose from a disagreement between the two families that own it.
Since 2004, the company has been owned exclusively by members of the James and Wolverton families and entities controlled by them.
Triple F Investments Ltd. – a company "effectively owned and controlled by Mark James and members of his family," according to Brongers' decision – owns 50 per cent of the shares of the numbered company.
Wolverton Pacific Partnership – a company owned by brothers Brent and Mark Wolverton and Pacific Investment Corporation Limited, of which Brent Wolverton is CEO – owns 25 per cent of the shares. The remaining 25 per cent are owned by Pacific Investment directly, or by other members of the Wolverton family or entities controlled by them.
