Peter Durant, a truck driver with the trucking company Kriska, drives his truck towards the border in Windsor, Ontario, May 9, 2008.GEOFF ROBINS/The Globe and Mail
Inside the Market's roundup of some of the Canadian small caps making news and on the move today. This post will be updated through the morning.
GASFRAC Energy Services Inc. announced the signing of a three-year contract extension with Husky Energy to provide fracturing services across the company's operations in Western Canada through September 22, 2017. Terms were not disclosed. Shares in the company were up 7 per cent in afternoon trading.
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Mullen Group Ltd. and Kriska Holdings Ltd. have entered into a letter of intent to create Kriska Transportation Group Ltd., a growth orientated transportation and logistics company based in Prescott, Ontario.
In addition to having a board position in Kriska Transportation, Mullen Group will be acquiring the property used in the operations of Kriska Transportation and will be entering into long-term leases with Kriska Transportation. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2014.
TD Securities analyst Scott Treadwell commented in a note, "Mullen remains one of the most prudent management teams in our coverage space in our view, and the potential to repeat the successful pattern of acquisitions seen in Western Canada in a larger market is very appealing to us. The partnership with a well-regarded veteran of the eastern Canadian trucking market could provide Mullen with further opportunities to deploy capital in consolidating smaller names, while retaining focus on well-run operations. We have modelled a slight decrease in 2015 EBITDAS because of the transfer of Mill Creek out of the Logistics group, but expect corporate income from the partnership (and real estate rental) to keep earnings flat. Although we view the announcement as a strategic positive, we remain cautious on the story until more clarity is available on the outlook."
Mr. Treadwell reiterated a "hold" rating and cut his price target to $29 (Canadian) from $32.
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Marquee Energy Ltd. has entered into a purchase and sale agreement for the sale of a non-core, gas-weighted asset in the Pembina area of western Alberta for total consideration of $14-million. The transaction is expected to close on or about Sept. 30, 2014, subject to applicable regulatory approvals.
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OntarioMD has provided final approval for funding eligibility in Ontario for QHR Technologies Inc.'s Accuro electronic medical records application service provider offering.
Cantor Fitzgerald Canada analyst Justin Kew commented, "This approval allows for the smooth transition of physicians from the Bell EMR ASP product to QHR's offering. This could add an incremental 500 physicians to QHR's current base of approximately 9,000 physicians. This approval also allows QHR to now compete in the fast growing Ontario ASP market. We had expected final approval as QHR had received conditional approval since July when the Bell/QHR agreement was first disclosed on the OntarioMD website. QHR operates the largest EMR platform on a single technology in Canada and is well positioned as EMR consolidation continues." Mr. Kew reiterated a "buy" rating and $1.90 (Canadian) price target.
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Activist investor Orange Capital is taking advantage of a sell-off in Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. to almost double its position in the energy producer. Read more in this Streetwise blog post.
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Silver Bull Resources Inc. provided a corporate update on the Sierra Mojada project and announced a shift in the company's focus in its development plans to mine silver there.
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Total Energy Services Inc. announced it has filed notice to make a normal course issuer bid that will expire on Sept. 29, 2015 to purchase up to 1.566 million of its shares. That represents about 5 per cent of its outstanding shares.
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Dundee Corp. announced that it has secured a $300-million, three-year revolving term credit facility with a syndicate of Canadian Schedule I Chartered Banks. "Securing this $300 million three-year revolving term credit facility will provide Dundee with added flexibility to diligently manage its financial resources," CEO David Goodman said in a statement.
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Canexus Corp. announced first receipt of Cold Lake Blend product, following completion of the tie-in of the Cold Lake pipeline system to its North American Terminal Operations. The NATO facility is now capable of loading both Access Western Blend product from MEG Energy Corp.'s Stonefell Terminal and CLB from Lamont Station, the company said.