Here are the top reads on deals and financial services over the last week. Have a great weekend!
Barrick Gold in sales process for Lagunas Norte mine in Peru: An announcement on a sale is possible before the end of the year. Mark Hill, chief operating officer, Latin America and Australia Pacific with Barrick, made the comments about Lagunas on Friday during a webcast alongside executives from Randgold Resources Ltd., which Barrick is in the process of acquiring. Story (Niall McGee, for subscribers)
BlackBerry buys California AI firm Cylance for $1.4-billion: BlackBerry Ltd. has agreed to buy Cylance Inc., a California cybersecurity company that uses artificial-intelligence technology to predict and potentially prevent cyberattacks, for US$1.4-billion in cash. The smartphone pioneer, based in Waterloo, Ont., has spent the past five years shifting its focus to software security under chief executive officer John Chen. Story (Josh O’Kane, for subscribers)
Forest City shareholders endorse sale of company to Brookfield: Shareholders of Forest City Realty Trust Inc. voted Thursday to sell their company to Brookfield Asset Management Inc., a matter which should have been routine. It was not, however. Unusual for such big-ticket mergers, the board of Forest City was divided on the US$6.8-billion sale, with the deal moving forward only when the chief executive of the company switched sides after a 6-6 tie. Story (David Milstead, for subscribers)
Major U.S. cannabis companies Acreage, Harvest list shares on CSE: Two of the largest U.S. cannabis companies went public in Canada on Thursday, joining dozens of other American marijuana firms that have come north to raise capital. Story (Christina Pellegrini, for subscribers)
CIBC becomes the last of the major banks to launch its own ETFs: Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is the last of the major Canadian banks to enter the exchange-traded funds industry with plans to launch four new offerings. CIBC Asset Management filed with regulators on Wednesday for two actively-managed fixed-income funds and two smart-beta equity funds. Story (Clare O’Hara)
Callidus loss widens as new leaders take the helm at distressed lender: Callidus Capital Corp. continues to lose money and set aside provisions for bad loans as new management take the wheel at the distressed lender, which is controlled by financier Newton Glassman. Toronto-based Callidus lost $20.4-million in the most recent quarter, the company announced late Wednesday, up from a loss of $17.6-million in the same period a year ago and its eighth consecutive quarterly loss. Story (Andrew Willis, for subscribers)
Quebec weighs McInnis Cement refinancing: Quebec is weighing a request by the shareholders of McInnis Cement to swap the debt the province holds in the venture for equity, raising questions about the financial health of the controversial Gaspé Peninsula project as it increases production. Story (Nicolas Van Praet, for subscribers)
Amid low oil prices, energy firms blame pipeline delays for lack of capital: The chief executives of several Canadian energy companies are blaming pipeline delays for their inability to access capital for acquisitions or to fund growth, at a time when the sector has already been hit with low energy prices. Jonathan Wright, president and CEO of NuVista Energy Ltd., said recent delays affecting the Trans Mountain expansion and the Keystone XL projects have amplified the growing investor sentiment that Canada is unable to develop its infrastructure. Story (Alexandra Posadzki, for subscribers)
How much money do you need to get the attention of a financial advisor? If you are seeking the services of a high-income financial planner, you need money – or “investable assets," as the industry calls it. Most high-net-worth wealth management firms deal with customers with at least $1-million to $5-million, says Charlie Sims, CEO and president at Cumberland Wealth, a firm with offices in Toronto, Calgary and Kingston. Story (Kathy Kerr)
New leaders expected to lay out strategy for Callidus Capital on Thursday: New leaders at Callidus Capital Corp. are expected to set out their strategy Thursday for the distressed lender, which has seen its share price fall sharply after announcing a string of loan losses and cutting its dividend. Toronto-based Callidus, controlled by financier Newton Glassman, is scheduled to hold a conference call Thursday on quarterly financial results hosted by Patrick Dalton, who was named interim CEO in late October. Mr. Dalton, 49, has two decades of experience in private credit markets and is filling in for Mr. Glassman, who the company said is on an extended medical leave following back surgery. Story (Andrew Willis, for subscribers)
Vancouver’s Pan American Silver to acquire struggling Tahoe Resources in US$1.1-billion deal: Vancouver’s Pan American Silver Corp. is buying U.S. competitor Tahoe Resources Inc. in an unusually structured US$1.1-billion deal aimed at resurrecting struggling Tahoe. Nevada-based Tahoe’s shares soared nearly 50 per cent after the deal was announced Wednesday. Story (Niall McGee, for subscribers)
Quebec should sign on to a national securities regulator before it’s too late: After 80 years of on-and-off efforts to create a pan-Canadian securities regulator, the country’s top court has finally cleared the way for Ottawa and a coalition of willing provinces to move ahead with their plan for a Cooperative Capital Markets Regulatory System. For Quebec, the Supreme Court of Canada’s unanimous ruling is a worst-case scenario that leaves the province in a significantly weakened bargaining position as it seeks to counter the centralization of financial markets expertise and decision-making authority in Toronto. Opinion (Konrad Yakabuski, for subscribers)
Brookfield, Caisse buying Johnson Controls battery business in $13.2-billion deal: Brookfield Business Partners LP and and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec have teamed up to buy the world’s biggest maker of car batteries in one of the largest deals of the year. The US$13.2-billion transaction is for the Power Solutions business of Johnson Controls International PLC. It’s a leveraged buyout, meaning the new owners will chip in just US$3-billion and take on more than US$10-billion in debt to finance the purchase. Story (David Milstead, for subscribers)
Judge rules with CIBC, grants possession of disputed Quadriga funds to Ontario Superior Court: The $26-million at the heart of a dispute between Canada’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce will be handed over to the Ontario Superior Court, a judge has ruled. Vancouver-based QuadrigaCX has been unable to access the funds since January, when CIBC froze several accounts belonging to the exchange’s payment processor, Costodian Inc., and its owner, Jose Reyes. Story (Alexandra Posadzki, for subscribers)
Toronto’s Dye & Durham postpones IPO: A rare Canadian technology initial public offering has foundered, with Toronto’s Dye & Durham Corp. deciding to postpone its attempt to go public. The company, which predominately offers cloud-based software to corporate law firms, announced plans for a $125-million IPO in late September. Story (Tim Kiladze and Sean Silcoff, for subscribers)
Why Mawer Investment Management is mulling a sale – and other firms will too: The news that Mawer Investment Management Ltd., which oversees $50-billion of client money, has hired bankers to consider a sale isn’t all that surprising. The number of large-scale independent firms in Canada’s money management industry is shrinking, and the buyers – namely the Canadian banks – have been willing to pay up. Story (Tim Kiladze, for subscribers)
Dream real estate companies enter venture finance with $40-million partnership: Toronto real estate mogul Michael Cooper and his portfolio of Dream real estate companies have become the latest big-name Canadian corporate players to invest in the booming technology business. Story (Sean Silcoff, for subscribers)
GMP Capital CEO forecasts turnaround for oil sector: The chief executive of GMP Capital Inc. is betting on a rebound for Canada’s energy sector, but even at today’s deeply discounted crude prices he doesn’t foresee having to trim staff. Story (Alexandra Posadzki, for subscribers)
Financial markets can suffer from the blues, too: Have markets got you down this fall? While you may well know that gloomy financial markets can depress your mood, it turns out your mood can also influence markets. Opinion (Lisa Kramer)
Dragons’ Den star raises $70-million for startup that finances e-commerce retailers: Michele Romanow started to notice a pattern as she sat through pitch after pitch as a star of TV’s Dragons' Den earlier this decade. While Ms. Romanow didn’t want to invest in many of the e-commerce businesses appealing for her money, she did think she could provide them with capital in a more effective way by temporarily underwriting their online advertising in exchange for a cut of revenues. After doing about 10 such deals with her life partner, Andrew D’Souza, the two successful serial entrepreneurs had a business idea of their own to pitch. On Monday, their three-year-old Toronto company, Clear Finance Technology Corp. (operating as Clearbanc) is set to announce it has raised US$70-million to offer a new financing alternative for young e-commerce businesses. Story (Sean Silcoff, for subscribers)
Montreal software firm Lightspeed prepares for initial public offering: Montreal software firm Lightspeed POS Inc. is gearing up for an initial public offering, with the firm selecting banks to lead the deal and adding new directors with experience inside publicly-traded technology companies. The company sells software to the retail and restaurant sectors. Story (Sean Silcoff, for subscribers)
Canada’s banks doing fewer deals, draining bonus pool: Canada’s banks closed the books on their financial year at the end of October, and when it comes to deal-making in their capital markets divisions, 2018 goes down as a year to forget. The value of stock sales for Canadian companies dropped significantly over the past 12 months, and independent investment dealers grabbed a bigger slice of a smaller pie. Story (Andrew Willis, for subscribers)
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