Movie Distribution Income Fund’s attempt to stop CanWest Global Communications and Goldman Sachs and Company from acquiring Alliance Atlantis Communications will move to a Toronto courtroom on May 18.

Both parties in the dispute on Wednesday agreed to attend the fairness hearing at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to determine whether the income trust, which has a 49% stake in Motion Picture Distribution, will prevail in its fight for a veto over the $2.3-billion takeover of Alliance Atlantis.

‘We believe that our consent is required in connection with the proposed transaction,’ Rubin Osten, chair of the special committee of the board at Movie Distribution Income Fund, said in a statement.

Osten added that setting the May 18 court date will ‘provide ample time for this process to run its course,’ without predicting its outcome.

In the fall, Alliance Atlantis said it would work with MDIF to sell both its 51% controlling stake in MPD and the income trust’s minority stake.

But that pact was undone when Alliance Atlantis’ controlling shareholder Michael MacMillan opted to sell his controlling stake to CanWest Global and equity partner Goldman Sachs, followed by other shareholders. Under the terms of that $53 per-share deal, CanWest Global would acquire Alliance Atlantis’ 13 specialty channels, while Goldman Sachs would pick up the 51% stake in MPD and a half-stake in the CSI franchise.

Feeling it was left out in the cold, MDIF on April 5 launched its legal gambit to halt the takeover deal, not least to possibly extract a take-out price by Goldman Sachs for its 49% stake in MPD, either equal to or above the $9 per-unit value already placed by the Wall Street powerhouse on Alliance Atlantis’ controlling stake.

In his own statement Wednesday, Alliance Atlantis CFO David Lazzarato reiterated that the foray into the Ontario courts will not hinder completion of the takeover deal, expected to wrap up by early August, pending regulator approval.