大连海晨化工矿产有限公司

Imerys Talc America had declared bankruptcy last year following the rise in talcum powder lawsuits and U.S. District Judge Freda Wolfson's ruling to proceed with the lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson (J&J) to whom it supplied talc.

A Toronto, Ontario-based company, Magris Resources Canada, Inc., has agreed to buy the assets of Imerys' North American Talc Subsidiaries for $223 million.

Currently, J&J, Imerys, and other defendants face nearly 20,000 Baby Powder and Shower-to-shower lawsuits. The allegations include that the companies failed to warn the talcum users about the side effects of applying the products around the genitals.

Imerys faced allegations for withholding the information of risks associated with talc and asbestos particles present in the products. This followed with heavy penalties resulting in Imerys declaring bankruptcy to avoid further escalations.

Magris Resources Canada, Inc., successfully made the bid to acquire Imerys after the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware announced its sale.

Imerys officials said that the sale would not happen until the first quarter of 2021, and a hearing has been scheduled for November 25 in a Canadian court for the approval of the deal.

The sale will eventually settle the charges against Imerys in the litigations as it will provide funds to deal with the ovarian cancer settlements.

Currently, all the talc powder lawsuits are centralized before Judge Freda L. Wolfson in the District of New Jersey for pretrial proceedings and coordinated discovery as part of an MDL. The litigation trials may have a substantial impact on settlement negotiations if J&J fails to defend the trials.

Aaron Regent is Chairman of the Board of Scotiabank. He is the Founding Partner of Magris Resources Inc. and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Niobec Inc., companies involved with the acquisition, development and operation of mining assets on a global basis. He was President and Chief Executive Officer of Barrick Gold Corporation from January 2009 to June 2012. Previously, Mr. Regent was Senior Managing Partner of Brookfield Asset Management and Co-Chief Executive Officer of the Brookfield Infrastructure Group, an asset management company, and President and Chief Executive Officer of Falconbridge Limited. Mr. Regent holds a B.A. from the University of Western Ontario and is a chartered accountant and a Fellow of CPA Ontario.