Our roundup of Canadian small-caps of between $100-million and $2.5-billion in market capitalization making news and on the move today.
Aphria Inc. (APHA-T; APHA-N) says its board has rejected the hostile bid by Green Growth Brands Inc. (GGB-C).
Aphria says the bid reflects a 23-per-cent discount to the company's share price based on the 20-day volume-weighted average price of GGB shares immediately before the announcement of an intention to acquire the Aphria. The company recommends its shareholders do not tender their shares.
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ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. (ATA-T) reported third-quarter revenues of $321.4-million up from $277.6-million a year ago and ahead of expectations of $305-million. Net income was $25.1-million or 27 cents per share versus net income of $6.9-million or 7 cents a year ago and ahead of expectations of 20 cents per share in the latest quarter.
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Indigo Books & Music Inc. (IDG-T) reported its revenue for the third quarter ended Dec. 29, 2018 was $426-million, which was down from $433.3-million for the same period a year earlier. Analysts were expecting revenue of $411.8-million in the latest quarter.
"This decline in revenue was driven partially by the residual impact of delayed renovations and meaningfully by the Canada Post strike," the company stated. "Leading up to the Canada Post strike, the company had a strong online growth trend reflecting customer desire to shop this channel. This trend reversed itself dramatically with the Canada Post disruption."
Net earnings for the third quarter came in at $21.5-million or 79 cents per share compared to net earnings of $42.6-million or $1.56 a year earlier.
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Namaste Technologies Inc. (N-X) announced its former CEO Sean Dollinger “has taken issue with the company’s actions and commenced legal proceedings against the company.” The matter is now before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice Commercial List, the company stated. Namaste fired Mr. Dollinger earlier this week and said it’s considering a sale of the company.
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Goodfood Market Corp. (FOOD-T) announced plans to raise $25-million in a bought-deal financing. It has an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters that will purchase a total of 7,142,857 shares at a price of $3.50 each.
“This financing will allow the company to further automate both the Montreal and Calgary facilities, expand Western Canada’s production capacity, accelerate the roll-out of the breakfast and ready-to-eat meal categories, while increasing Goodfood’s value proposition and continuing our history of innovation for our member base,” stated CEO Jonathan Ferrari.
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Chorus Aviation Inc. (CHR-T) announced an agreement with Bombardier Commercial Aircraft to acquire nine CRJ900 regional jet aircraft which will be operated by Jazz Aviation LP. The nine aircraft will be delivered in 2020.
"The addition of these new CRJ900 aircraft is a significant step in modernizing the Jazz fleet with larger aircraft while supporting the continued growth of our leasing revenue," said Joseph Randell, CEO of Chorus. "The economics of this aircraft will enhance our competitive position and our ability to more effectively respond to the needs of our customer and changing market demand."
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Khiron Life Sciences Corp. (KHRN-X) announced a $20-million bought-deal financing. It has an agreement with underwriters that will purchase 9,100,000 common shares at $2.20 each.
The company said it intends to use the net proceeds to expand its operating capacity and for working capital requirements and other general corporate purposes.
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Sprott Inc. (SII-T) announced a joint venture with Tocqueville Asset Management to co-manage a new gold equities investment strategy. “The partnership between Sprott and Tocqueville brings together two leading names in precious metals to create a new investment platform,” the company stated. “The objective of the strategy is to invest in low risk/high reward opportunities through a concentrated portfolio of public gold mining companies where the co-managers can help bridge the gap in access to financing, value realization and market perception.”
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StorageVault Canada Inc. (SVI-X) announced plans to purchase the Real Storage portfolio for $275-million.
“Real Storage is one of Canada’s largest self-storage portfolios and complements StorageVault’s current operating platform,” the company stated.
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Calian Group Ltd. (CGY-T) reported revenues of $79.9-million for its first quarter ended Dec. 31, up from $76.2-million in the same quarter of the previous year. Net profit for the first quarter was $3.3-million or 43 cents per share down from $4.1-million or 54 cents in the same quarter of the previous year. The expectation from one analyst was for revenue of $86.1-million and earnings of 55 cents.
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