Here are the top reads on deals and financial services over the last 24 hours,
TransCanada hires RBC to manage sale of majority stake in Coastal GasLink pipeline: TransCanada Corp. has hired RBC Capital Markets Inc. to manage the planned sale of a majority stake in Coastal GasLink, a $6.2-billion pipeline project that has been the target of protests led by a group of hereditary chiefs in British Columbia. Story (Brent Jang, for subscribers)
U.S. biotech giant Celgene invests in Ontario-developed blood-cancer drug in potential $1-billion deal: U.S. drug giant Celgene Corp. has agreed to pay as much as US$1-billion to bring an early-stage blood-cancer treatment developed by publicly funded Ontario researchers to market and give leukemia patients in the province first access to the experimental drug. Story (Sean Silcoff, for subscribers)
Whitecap Venture Partners raises $110-million for second fund: A venture capital firm founded by the family behind real estate giant Cadillac Fairview Corp. has raised $110-million for a new fund. Story (Sean Silcoff, for subscribers)
Toronto maintenance-software startup Fiix raises $40-million: Fiix Inc., a fast-growing Toronto technology firm looking to bring cloud-based software and artificial intelligence to maintenance departments, has raised US$40-million in a venture capital deal led by Georgian Partners. Story (Sean Silcoff, for subscribers)
As gold sector consolidates, analysts see possible role for B2Gold: With two of the biggest takeovers in the Canadian gold sector in a decade unveiled in the past few months, attention has turned to who might be next. Some analysts think it could be B2Gold Corp. Story (Niall McGee, for subscribers)
Going cashless: How far will Canadians go in parting with their bills and coins?: Soon after recreational cannabis consumption was legalized in Canada in October, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner offered some advice to consumers: If you are wary of leaving a track record of your purchases, try buying marijuana with cash rather than a credit card. If this advice seems curiously out of sync with today’s trends, it is: Canada is becoming an increasingly cashless society as credit cards, debit cards, contactless payments, electronic transfers and phone apps give consumers any number of alternatives to counting bills and hauling change. A survey published Monday by Angus Reid Institute in partnership with The Globe and Mail found that 63 per cent of 1,500 respondents agreed either strongly or moderately that they hardly ever carry cash. Story (David Berman)
ROB MAGAZINE
TD’s Bharat Masrani on managing through chaos and his bank’s bright future: Bankers like predictability, and a few things have stayed unchanged since late in 2014, when Bharat Masrani became the first person of colour to run a major Canadian bank. At the time, TD was the second-largest bank in Canada, and it remains so. Masrani’s unassuming middle-management wardrobe eschewed flashy cufflinks then, and his shirts continue to be buttoned at the wrists. And more than four years after his newsmaking ascendance, Masrani is still the only example of diversity at the top of Canadian banking. Aside from all of that, things look very different. Story (Trevor Cole, for subscribers)
MORE DEALS NEWS
Utilities sector: Fortis Inc. has signed a deal to sell its 51 per cent stake in the Waneta expansion hydroelectric project in B.C. to its provincial government partners for approximately $1-billion. Story (for subscribers)
Energy sector: State-owned Saudi Aramco plans to invest up to $1.6 billion for a nearly 20 per cent stake in South Korean refiner Hyundai Oilbank, expanding its foothold in one of its biggest Asian buyers of crude oil. Story (for subscribers)
The Streetwise newsletter is Tuesday to Saturday. If you’re reading this on the web, or if someone forwarded this e-mail to you, you can sign up for Streetwise and all Globe newsletters on our signup page.