No foreign corporation conducting affairs in this state without a certificate of authority shall be permitted to maintain any action, suit, or proceeding in any court of this state until such corporation shall have obtained a certificate of authority. Nor shall any action, suit or proceeding be maintained in any court of this state by any successor or assignee of such corporation on any right, claim, or demand arising out of the conduct of affairs by such corporation in this state until a certificate of authority shall have been obtained by the corporation or by a valid corporation which has (1) acquired all or substantially all of its assets and (2) assumed all of its liabilities: PROVIDED, That the failure of a foreign corporation to obtain a certificate of authority to conduct affairs in this state shall not impair the substantive validity of any contract or act of such corporation, and shall not prevent such corporation from defending any action, suit or proceeding in any court of this state under such terms and conditions as a court may find just.
[1969 ex.s. c 120 ยง 87.]