Here are the top reads on deals and financial services over the last 24 hours,
FINANCIAL SERVICES NEWS
Canada’s big banks are fighting to win doctors’ trust – and their money: Just days after Bank of Nova Scotia unveiled its hefty $2.6-billion bid to buy MD Financial Management last May, Leo Salom called together what he calls his “SWAT team.” Story (Clare O’Hara)
Return of the REITs: Financing rush makes real estate the hottest sector on Bay Street: Canadian real estate investment trusts are capitalizing on a growing hunger for yield-driven stocks, tapping investors for fresh cash in an unexpected flurry of financings. Story (Tim Kiladze)
Sidewalk Labs courting local venture capitalists to back smart-city project on Toronto waterfront: Google affiliate Sidewalk Labs has been trying to win the support of Canada’s venture-capital community in the months leading up to a crucial make-or-break deadline for its proposal to develop a high-tech neighbourhood on Toronto’s waterfront. Story (Josh O’Kane)
DEALS NEWS: MERGERS, ACQUISITIONS, IPOs and FINANCINGS
Hudson’s Bay agrees to be taken private after Baker group hikes bid: A group led by Hudson’s Bay Co. executive chairman Richard Baker raised its takeover offer for the department store chain by $100-million on Monday and won approval for the bid from members of the company’s board of directors. Story (Andrew Willis and Rachelle Younglai)
Why Baker’s offer for HBC is unlikely to go higher: The numbers behind Richard Baker’s sweetened privatization offer for Hudson’s Bay Co. are a testament to the dire state of department-store retail. They also show why an even richer bid from his group of insiders is unlikely. Opinion (Jeffrey Jones)
Pension funds pay double last year’s IPO price for AltaGas Canada: Two Canadian pension funds are teaming up to acquire AltaGas Canada Inc., paying more than double the company’s initial public offering price only one year ago. Story (Tim Kiladze)
Knight Therapeutics buys Latin American drug company for $400-million: Jonathan Goodman has finally gone shopping. Knight Therapeutics Inc., the pharmaceutical company Mr. Goodman founded and leads as chief executive, announced Monday it will buy Latin American oncology drug specialist Grupo Biotoscana Investments in a deal worth $369-million. It is Knight’s first major acquisition and puts to work the bulk of a cash pile that topped $600-million at the end of June. Story (Nicolas Van Praet)
Montreal’s Lightspeed to pay up to US$61-million for Kounta Holdings in biggest acquisition yet: Montreal-based Lightspeed POS Inc. has announced its third acquisition since going public seven months ago and the largest in its 14-year history. Story (Sean Silcoff)
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