Judge allows Mirvish to purchase local theatres

Toronto, ON

The Canadian Press

David Mirvish's Ed Mirvish Enterprises can go ahead with the purchase of two downtown Toronto theatres (the Canon and Panasonic), an Ontario Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday.

Rival theatre impresario Aubrey Dan's Dancap Productions had sought an injunction to block the sale of the Canon and Panasonic theatres to Mirvish. Dan claimed the sale would violate his prior agreements with John Gore's New York-based Key Brand Entertainment, which bought the two theatres from Live Nation in January.

Dan claimed the sale constituted conspiracy, fraud, a breach of the Competition Act and would do irreparable harm. "Dancap has failed to meet the test for an interlocutory injunction," Justice Geoff Morawetz write in a decision released Tuesday.

Dancap's statement of claim said the sale violated a "binding term sheet agreement" signed last November.

"It seems to me that Dancap seeks to obtain the rights to control the sale of the theatres through this motion," Morawetz wrote. "It did not negotiate for this right in the term sheet."Mirvish said the decision was what he had been hoping for.

"Our position was validated by the judge and he seems to have accepted all of our arguments," Mirvish said. "He says that Key Brand has the right to sell and that we have a binding agreement to purchase."

Mirvish said he hopes Tuesday's decision is the end of the issue. "I'd like to spend my time in the theatres, not in the courts," he said.

In an email, Dan expressed disappointment at the ruling and said he will be reviewing legal options. "Dancap remains confident that it has a strong position on the merits of its legal claims," he said.