Here are the top reads on deals and financial services over the last week,
DEALS NEWS: MERGERS, ACQUISITIONS, IPOs and FINANCINGS
TD threw in the towel on Ameritrade in the face of a powerful opponent: I spent a morning with Charles Schwab, years ago, at a conference in Arizona’s Biltmore Hotel. I mention the setting because the Biltmore is where American business leaders gather to tell each other how smart they are, while working on their tans. NFL owners meet here on a regular basis. The place reeks of power – a smell that combines leather furniture and bourbon. Against this backdrop, Mr. Schwab explained why it would be a mistake for Toronto-Dominion Bank to go toe-to-toe with his discount brokerage firm –previewing a battle that would play out 16 years later. Opinion (Andrew Willis)
TD sells stake in key U.S. unit to rival Schwab: Toronto-Dominion Bank has signalled that it won’t invest more in the U.S. online brokerage business by selling its stake in TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. to rival Charles Schwab Corp. as part of a US$26-billion takeover. Story (James Bradshaw and Andrew Willis)
TD Bank’s cash management deal will slowly disappear with Schwab’s deal for TD Ameritrade: Charles Schwab Corp.’s deal to acquire TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. will gradually erode a lucrative side deal that has contributed hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue a year to Toronto-Dominion Bank. Story (David Milstead)
Catalyst Capital proposes takeover bid for HBC: Catalyst Capital Group Inc. is proposing a takeover bid for Hudson’s Bay Co. in an effort to disrupt a plan by the retailer’s executive chairman to take the company private. Story (Jeffrey Jones)
Eric Sprott undecided on deal with Detour Gold: Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd.'s plan to acquire Detour Gold Corp. has been costly for Eric Sprott. How costly? “I think my loss is $140-million,” the maverick gold investor said. Story (Niall McGee)
Detour Gold premium vanishes as investors dump Kirkland Lake shares amid takeover: Investors punished Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. after the underground mining company said it will acquire struggling open pit specialist Detour Gold Corp. in an all-stock deal valued at about $4.9-billion. Stock (Niall McGee)
Quebecor asks CRTC to block Bell’s acquisition of V media network: Quebecor Inc. is asking the CRTC to block Bell Media’s acquisition of a French-language television network, arguing that the deal would be detrimental to Quebec’s TV market. Story (Alexandra Posadzki)
3iQ applies for TSX listing: Canada’s first bitcoin fund for retail investors is one step closer to listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange. 3iQ’s investment product will be a closed-end fund, also called a “buy and hold” fund, rather than an exchange-trade fund. Story (Alexandra Posadzki)
Couche-Tard’s Asia-Pacific gambit: A ‘messy’ $5.8-billion bid for Caltex: Canadian convenience store king Alain Bouchard has been scanning the Asia-Pacific region in recent years, looking for a takeover target that would give his Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. a toehold for its third leg of growth after North America and Europe. Story (Nicolas Van Praet)
FINANCIAL SERVICES NEWS
Scotiabank continues Caribbean withdrawal with sale of operations in British Virgin Islands: Bank of Nova Scotia has reached a deal to sell its operations in the British Virgin Islands as the Canadian bank continues to shrink its Caribbean footprint. The buyer is Republic Financial Holdings Ltd. (RFHL), the Trinidad and Tobago-based owner of Republic Bank, which has branches across the region. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and it is still subject to regulatory approval and closing conditions. Story (James Bradshaw)
Scotiabank posts modest profit gain, capping year of change: Bank of Nova Scotia closed its 2019 fiscal year with modestly higher profits in its core divisions, as wariness among business leaders over global trade tensions and economic prospects begins to weigh on banks. Story (James Bradshaw)
Investor advocates frustrated with lack of reform on mutual fund sales charges: Investor advocates are growing impatient with Canadian regulators’ lack of progress on reforming the sale of mutual funds that charge investors early withdrawal fees. Story (Clare O’Hara)
CI Financial moves into U.S. market: CI Financial Corp. has moved into the United States market for the first time with the purchase of a majority stake in Surevest Wealth Management, a Phoenix-based investment advisory business. Story (Clare O’Hara)
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
The rental rush: Investors are scooping up apartment buildings and tenants are getting squeezed: The twin 1970s brown-brick apartment buildings that rise above a supermarket and strip plazas in northwest Toronto aren’t elegant or even striking. But the Country Club Towers, both 27 storeys tall and backing onto a golf course, are crown jewels of a sort. The buildings are two of the largest in a portfolio of 44 dated suburban rental buildings and, in early November, the collection sold for an astonishing $1.7-billion. It was among the steepest valuations in Canadian commercial real estate history, relative to the properties’ rental income. Story (Tim Kiladze)
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