Our roundup of Canadian small-caps of between $100-million and $2.5-billion in market capitalization making news and on the move today.
BTB Real Estate Investment Trust (BTB.UN-T) announced the disposition of an office property located at 1001 Sherbrooke Street East, in Montréal.
It said the property was acquired for $14.2-million, excluding transaction costs in November of 2008 and was sold for $21.6-million, excluding transaction costs.
"BTB chose to dispose of this property due to favourable market conditions in respect to the unfavourable NOI [net operating income] generated by the property," it stated in a release.
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Bellus Health Inc. (BLU-Q; BLU-T) shares were down by more than 75 per cent in the pre-market on Monday after the company announced that Phase 2 Relief trial of BLU-5937 in patients with refractory chronic cough “did not achieve statistical significance for the primary endpoint of reduction in placebo-adjusted cough frequency at any dose tested.”
“In the Relief trial, we observed data that we believe is competitive within the P2X3 class, including the reduction in cough frequency shown in patients with higher cough counts and a low taste effect. While we had hoped to see more response in the lower cough patients, BLU-5937 and other P2X3 antagonists may have the most benefit in patients with a greater disease burden,” said Roberto Bellini, CEO of Bellus Health, in a release. “We believe the Phase 2 data support moving BLU-5937 forward into an adaptive Phase 2b trial enriched for higher cough count patients. We expect to begin this trial in the fourth quarter of 2020.”
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Cineplex Inc. (CGX-T) has filed a lawsuit seeking damages from Cineworld Group PLC over the movie-theatre giant’s withdrawal from a $2.2-billion deal to buy the Canadian company.
The Toronto-based cinema operator filed a statement of claim in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Friday against Cineworld. The damages sought by Cineplex include the losses to its shareholders – or the difference between the approximately $2.18-billion purchase price that Britain-based Cineworld would have paid when the deal closed and the value of the Cineplex shares, as determined by the court. Cineplex is also seeking compensation for other losses – including approximately $664-million in debt and transaction costs that Cineworld would have repaid or refinanced – and other “punitive and aggravated” damages.
The now scuttled deal, first announced last December, valued Cineplex at $34 per share. Like many theatre operators around the globe, Cineplex is reeling from months of closings owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. Its stock is now trading at $8.50 per share.
“This is a case of buyer’s remorse,” Cineplex wrote in the court filing. The Canadian company said that Cineworld cited the impact of COVID-19 on Cineplex’s business, but that the terms of the deal excluded “outbreaks of illness” as a condition for termination.
According to the court filing, Cineworld’s correspondence cited reasons for terminating the deal, including that Cineplex had deferred some payments to film distributors and studios during the pandemic, along with rent, damaging its relationships. Cineplex acknowledged the deferrals, but said in its filing that the relationships had not been harmed.
Cineplex also claimed that Cineworld had cited cash management as an example of the Toronto-based company operating outside of the “ordinary course” of business. Cineplex wrote that its “reasonable efforts” to preserve the business through the crisis were done “in good faith.”
None of the claims have been tested in court.
- Susan Krashinsky Robertson
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Bird Construction Inc. (BDT-T) announced the sale of Bird Capital Limited’s 20-per-cent interest in the P3 concessions responsible for 18 schools and nine childcare facilities in Saskatchewan to its project partner, Concert Infrastructure.
"Developed as the Saskatchewan Joint-Use Schools Project I (SJUSP I) and Saskatchewan Joint-Use Schools Project II (SJUSP II), the projects made up the largest school construction program in the history of the province at the time of construction," the company stated in a release after markets closed Friday
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BMTC Group Inc. (GBT-T) reported revenue of $100.9-million for its first quarter ended April 30, compared to $150.3-million a year earlier. Its net loss was $12.4-million or 36 cents per share compared to a net loss of $3.5-million or 10 cents per share recorded in the same 2019 period. The expectation was a loss of 20 cents and revenue of $81-million, according to S&P Capital IQ.
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