Here are the top reads on deals and financial services over the last 24 hours,
Weston family hires OMERS managing partner Jim Orlando to invest $100-million in tech ventures: Canada’s billionaire Weston family is making a $100-million bet on the emerging-technology sector, hiring away one of Canada’s top early-stage investment professionals from pension giant Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System to run its new venture fund. The Globe and Mail has learned that Jim Orlando, a managing partner with OMERS Ventures, will join a new arm of the Westons’ holding company, Wittington Investments, to develop “a meaningful corporate venture capital program and strategy,” according to a recruiting brief for the position. Story (Sean Silcoff)
Acreage shareholders approve sale to Canopy: The cannabis industry’s first major cross-border deal received shareholder approval on Wednesday, with shareholders of both Canopy Growth Corp. and U.S. marijuana firm Acreage Holdings Inc. voting overwhelmingly in favour of a partnership between the two companies. Story (Mark Rendell)
Why Slack doesn’t need a traditional IPO: Unlike just about every other company that’s gone public in the United States, Slack Technologies Inc. will do so without one notable takeaway: new cash. On Thursday, the maker of workplace-messaging software is expected to list its shares directly on the New York Stock Exchange, forgoing an initial public offering that would see the company issue equity in exchange for new funds. Story (Matt Lundy)
Private insurers are the biggest obstacle to Justincare: Forget the Trans Mountain Pipeline. If Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is looking for a legacy project to secure his place in history, his advisory council on universal drug insurance has handed him a proposal that could one day have Canadians calling their drug plan Justincare. Opinion (Konrad Yakabuski)
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
GMP CEO entitled to $7.5-million change of control payment upon exit: GMP Capital Inc.’s departing chief executive officer Harris Fricker is set to receive a hefty payment after the company’s sale of its capital markets business. Story (Niall McGee)
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