Jim PattisonLAURA LEYSHON/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 throughout the morning
Great Pacific Capital Corp., owned by Jim Pattison, said it has acquired 408,000 shares of Just Energy Group Inc., bringing Great Pacific and Mr. Pattison's stake to 12.5 per cent. Just Energy sells natural gas and electricity under fixed- and variable-rate contracts.
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Integra Gold Corp. said it will raise $6-million from a bought deal equity offering priced at a premium to Wednesday's closing price of $0.19. Flow-through shares, which make up the vast majority of this offering, will be priced at $0.23, while super flow-through shares will be available for $0.27. The offering is expected to occur close to the end of the year. The company plans to use the proceeds for expenses related to its exploration costs in Quebec.
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Imaflex Inc. said it would raise up to $1-million through a non-brokered private placement of shares and warrants in order to fund working capital. For $0.45, a modest discount to its closing price on Wednesday, a subscriber will receive one common share of the company along with one half warrant. Each full warrant enables the holder to purchase a share of Imaflex at a price of $0.65 within one year of the closing of this offering. The company has agreed to pay a finder's fee to parties who introduce subscribers to this offering.
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DHX Media Ltd. said it secured eight additional licensing partners in the United Kingdom for its new Teletubbies series. These partners are expected to launch consumer products at their retail locations in the UK in 2016.
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Paladin Energy Ltd. said it completed the retail component of its non-renounceable entitlement offer. This, along with a recent private placement, has generated proceeds of approximately $205-million (Australian , or $195 Canadian) for the company.
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Cervus Equipment Corp. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of Deer-Country Equipment (1996) Ltd., which owns two John Deere dealerships located in High River and Vulcan, Alberta.
The purchase will be funded via the issuance of $750,000 worth of common shares of Cervus, with the remainder paid in cash drawn from existing credit facilities.
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Granite Real Estate Investment Trust announced Wednesday that its board of trustees has approved an increase to its monthly distribution to $0.192 per stapled unit to reflect a targeted annualized distribution of $2.30 per stapled unit, up from the current annualized rate of $2.20 per stapled unit.
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Mawson West Ltd. said it has finalized a transaction with Galena Asset Management, manager of the Galena Private Equity Resources Fund LP, through which Galena will provide the company with up to $33.4-million (U.S.) in financing and become Mawson's largest shareholder, with a 41.67 million-share stake. Galena's affiliate entity, Trafigura Pte Ltd., will provide additional financial assistance to Mawson.
The proceeds of the financing will be used to provide Mawson with "sufficient working capital to manage the uninterrupted ramp up of the Kapulo copper mine through to positive cash flows and strengthen its balance sheet to manage its debt repayment requirements," Mawson said in a statement. The completion of the transaction are subject to receipt of exemptions sought from the Toronto Stock Exchange under a financial hardship application, it said.
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CounterPath Corporation said it lost $1.4-million (U.S.) in the three months ending October 31, an improvement from its $2.1-million loss during the same period in 2013. "For the second consecutive quarter, CounterPath delivered year-on-year revenue growth," said Chief Executive Officer Donovan Jones. "Looking ahead, our pipeline is strong, and I continue to believe our increased focus on the enterprise will prove successful." The company's quarterly loss was slightly larger than analysts anticipated while sales also fell short of the consensus estimate.
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Lumenpulse Inc. reported net income of $400,000 (Canadian) in the second quarter, compared to a net loss of $1.3-million a year earlier. Its revenue increased 68 per cent to $25.6-million from $15.3-million for the corresponding period last year.
"This quarter, the company generated positive operating cash flow of $1.3-million and was free cash-flow neutral. Additionally, the company reached profitability for the first time in its history," said CFO Robert Comeau.
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Transat A.T. Inc. reported fourth-quarter net income of $30.6-million ($0.79 per share on a diluted basis), compared with $54.7-million ($1.40 per share) a year earlier. The results topped market expectations, according to CIBC.
"The impact of the weaker Canadian dollar, net from lower fuel costs, will be a 1.3 per cent increase in operating costs if the dollar and fuel costs stay at their current level," the company said in a statement.
"In summary, the sun destinations market, where margins are especially thin and volatile, accounts for a very significant portion of Transat's business in the winter. The following factors make forecast difficult: the overall supply is more than 10 per cent superior to the previous year, a significant portion of the capacity remains to be sold, bookings are last-minute, the Canadian dollar is weakening, and fuel costs are decreasing. To date, margins are similar to those of the previous year at the same date. Knowing that a sudden decrease of the Canadian dollar, which started at the end of December last year, had a significant negative impact on the corporation's results in 2014, it is difficult to make any comparative forecast for the winter."
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Gran Tierra Energy Inc. said its 2015 capital spending would be $310-million for exploration and production development operations in Colombia, Peru and Brazil. The company expects 2015 production to average between 26,000 and 27,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day gross working interest or between 21,000 and 22,000 BOEPD net after royalty, assuming an average Brent oil price of $60 per barrel.
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Loyalist Group Limited, which owns and operates private English as a Second Language educational facilities, said it signed a business development agreement with JooAng Daily Media Plus, a subsidiary of one of South Korea's biggest media firms. The two parties have entered into a strategic partnership to pursue business opportunities domestically and abroad. "We expect that the agreement will enhance our revenue generating capabilities in both South Korea and Canada," said Loyalist Chief Executive Officer Andrew Ryu.
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Cascades Inc. said it is selling its North American boxboard manufacturing and converting assets, which are located in Quebec, Manitoba, and Ontario to Atlanta-based Graphic Packaging Holding Company for $44.9-million.
"Today, Cascades is announcing an important decision that once again signals its commitment to refocusing its activities in the strategic sectors in which it excels. This transaction follows in the wake of a number of other actions taken during the course of the year, with a view to reducing our debt load and focusing our investments in certain core packaging sectors, as well as in the tissue paper and recovery sectors. It is important to take note that today's announcement does not affect our European boxboard operations."
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2015.