Dye & Durham Investor Plantro Pushes for Board Change and Company Sale

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Plantro Ltd, the second-largest investor in Canadian legal software firm Dye & Durham (DND.TO), has initiated a proxy fight to elect new directors and is calling for a full sale of the company, according to documents reviewed by Reuters.

Owning an 11% stake, Plantro formally nominated three candidates—Brian Bidulka, David Danziger, and Martha Vallance (a former COO of Dye & Durham)—to the seven-member board. The nominations seek to replace board chair Arnaud Ajdler and directors Tracey Keates and Ritu Khanna. Plantro has also requisitioned a special shareholder meeting to vote on the proposed directors.

Plantro emphasized that its nominees bring expertise in mergers and acquisitions, capital allocation, operations, technology, and governance. The investor argues that a mere divestiture of the company’s financial services division, previously suggested, is insufficient. Instead, it urges an immediate full sale to secure a control premium for shareholders and stabilize the business.

Since January, Dye & Durham’s stock price has dropped 42%, valuing the company at about $488 million. Plantro criticized the current board for resisting engagement with potential buyers despite acknowledging that unsolicited acquisition interest exists. The company revealed in February it had received a takeover offer at C$20 per share but declined to engage with the bidder.

Last year, Dye & Durham retained Goldman Sachs as a strategic adviser to explore options but paused the review in November after shareholder feedback.

Dye & Durham and the nominated directors did not respond immediately to requests for comment.

Reuters X Account Restored in India Following Suspension Over Legal Request

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News account on X was reinstated in India on Sunday, a day after the social media platform suspended it citing a legal demand, according to an email from X to Reuters’ social media team. X did not provide further details on the reason for the restoration.

Earlier, the Reuters account — which has over 25 million global followers — had been blocked in India since Saturday night, with a notice stating that the suspension was in response to a legal demand under India’s Information Technology Act, 2000. This law allows government officials to order removal of content deemed to violate local laws, including issues of national security or public order.

The Indian government’s Press Information Bureau denied that any agency requested the handle be withheld and said officials were working with X to resolve the issue. Reuters and X representatives did not immediately comment on the restoration.

Another Reuters-operated account, Reuters World, also blocked in India, was restored late Sunday night.

The earlier suspension followed an email sent to Reuters on May 16, informing them of a legal request to remove certain content from their X account in compliance with Indian law. However, the exact content targeted, the requesting entity, and whether this email was connected to the suspension remain unclear.

X has faced ongoing disputes with India over content removal requests. In March, X sued the Indian government over a new website it argued expanded government powers for content takedowns, a case that is ongoing.

Australia’s Goodman Group Launches $2.7 Billion Consortium to Expand Hong Kong Data Centres

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Australia’s Goodman Group (GMG.AX) announced on Friday the formation of a $2.7 billion investment consortium with major international pension funds and investors to develop data centre infrastructure across Hong Kong.

Key Details

  • The consortium includes Dutch investors PGGM and APG, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and CBRE Investment Management’s Indirect Private Real Estate Strategies. An unnamed Middle Eastern investor is also part of the group.

  • Goodman will hold a 20% cornerstone stake in the partnership.

  • The company’s shares rose 1% to A$35.08, nearing a five-month high, outperforming the flat S&P/ASX 200 index.

Assets and Market Position

  • The consortium will control four existing data centres Goodman currently holds in Hong Kong plus two centres under development.

  • Goodman’s portfolio represents about 30% of Hong Kong’s data centre market by power capacity.

  • Goodman also maintains similar data centre partnerships in Japan and Europe, with the Japanese partnership expected to hold $1.1 billion in assets by end of 2025.

Future Plans and Market Trends

  • Goodman’s CEO Greg Goodman highlighted that part of the company’s A$10 billion industrial property portfolio in Hong Kong may be redeveloped into data centres and integrated into the partnership.

  • He pointed out strong demand coming from China, driven by the rapid growth of artificial intelligence and digital transformation sectors.

  • Goodman raised A$2.54 billion in February through a share placement to fund global data centre expansion efforts.