Creditors of three major tobacco companies will get the chance to weigh in on a proposed multi-billion-dollar settlement in December.
An Ontario court has approved a motion that would see representatives for the creditors, which include provincial governments and plaintiffs in two Quebec class-action lawsuits, review and vote on the proposal on Dec. 12.
One of the companies, JTI-Macdonald Corp., had urged the court to hold off on approving the motion so the proposed plan could be amended before it’s presented to creditors.
The company said it opposed the proposed plan of arrangement, calling it “unworkable” in its current form.
The proposal would see the three companies—JTI-Macdonald Corp., Rothmans, Benson & Hedges and Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd.—pay $24 billion to provinces and territories and more than $4 billion to tens of thousands of Quebec smokers and their heirs….