The Financial Post reports in its Wednesday edition that so-called "empty voting" is playing out now in the planned takeover of Quebec-based Tembec by Florida-based Rayonier Advanced Materials. The Post's Barry Critchley, writing in Off the Record, says shareholders vote on the takeover July 27. The takeover -- where shareholders can accept $4.05 in cash or 0.2302 of a Rayonier share -- has become highly contentious, in part because of the strong opposition of Oaktree Capital Management. Oaktree raises the issue of empty votes, referring to the activities of Fairfax Financial, formerly Tembec's largest shareholder, which had a 19.99-per-cent interest when the transaction was announced on May 25. Now, thanks to a series of stock sales, with the last being for 14.2 per cent of Tembec on June 19, the record date for the July 27 special meeting, Fairfax no longer owns any shares. It received prices from $4.30 to $4.41 a share. In other words, Fairfax received a higher price than Tembec's shareholders stand to when they vote on the takeover. Tembec closed Tuesday at $4.26. Mr. Critchley notes that with the Oaktree and Restructuring stakes, it is impossible for the deal to reach the required two-thirds support level.