Here are the top reads on deals and financial services over the last week,
DEALS NEWS: MERGERS, ACQUISITIONS, IPOs and FINANCINGS
Onex lands WestJet takeover: Onex Corp.’s $3.5-billion takeover of Calgary’s WestJet Airlines Ltd. is complete, after it cleared the final regulatory hurdle on Tuesday evening. The ruling from the Canadian Transportation Agency that said WestJet and its subsidiary airline Swoop Inc. would continue to meet Canadian ownership laws after the takeover. Story (Eric Atkins)
Saudi Aramco tops Crown Prince’s $2-trillion valuation goal, though skepticism persists: Saudi Aramco hit the $2 trillion target sought by de-facto Saudi leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Thursday as its shares racked up a second day of gains, despite some skepticism about the state-owned oil firm’s value. Story (Reuters)
Triple Flag pulls plug on IPO: Triple Flag Precious Metals Corp. has cancelled its plans to go public, citing difficult market conditions, in what would have been the biggest initial public offering in the Canadian mining sector in more than two years. Story (Niall McGee)
GFL raises $1.4-billion weeks after failed IPO to keep acquisition streak going: Fresh off its failed initial public offering, GFL Environmental Inc. is raising $1.4-billion in private markets to fuel more acquisitions. Story (Tim Kiladze)
FINANCIAL SERVICES NEWS
Royal Bank to sell eastern Caribbean operations: Royal Bank of Canada is selling its operations in the eastern Caribbean to a consortium of local banks, as Canada’s largest lenders continue to pull back from a region that is increasingly seen as risky. Story (James Bradshaw)
Regulator requires Canadian banks to increase capital reserves as a buffer for bad times: Canada’s banking regulator raised minimum capital levels for large banks for the third time in the past year, nudging banks to build up reserves that they can draw on to continue lending in a downturn. Story (James Bradshaw)
Desjardins expands identity-protection program after revealing additional 1.8 million people had information stolen: Desjardins Group is expanding its identity-protection plan to cover all of its eight million customers in the wake of one of the largest known Canadian financial service data leaks. Story (Les Perreaux)
Sun Life uses technology to lower health-care costs for customers: Two years after Jacques Goulet took over the helm as president of Sun Life Financial Canada, the insurer is cutting health-care costs for customers through digital applications that steer users to lower-cost options, while also driving down market costs for some medical products. Story (Clare O’Hara)
Paramount Financial receiver sues Toronto-area developer, claiming he took $18.8-million for his ‘personal benefit’: The court-appointed receiver for Paramount Financial Equity Corporation, which sold investments in pooled mortgage funds until its collapse in 2017, is suing a Toronto-area developer, alleging that he improperly diverted $18.8-million from Paramount-funded projects for his “personal benefit.” Story (Greg McArthur)
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Consumer backlash over plastic packages has retailers looking for solutions, but none are easy: It’s two weeks before Christmas, and Toronto’s Eaton Centre is decked with a 108-foot artificial tree and elephantine reindeer speckled with lights. Shoppers amble by, toting purchases in clusters of bags – a holiday parade of packaging. Story (Susan Krashinsky Robertson)
Power Corp. proposes buyout of Power Financial as Desmarais brothers retire: Bowing to investor pressure, the co-CEOs of investment giant Power Corp. of Canada have announced that they will step down amid an overhaul that will remove Power Financial Corp. from the Toronto Stock Exchange. Story (Clare O’Hara, David Milstead)
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