Here are the top reads on deals and financial services over the week. Have a great weekend!
The fight for the Stronach family fortune: Frank Stronach split from Magna International in 2011, controversially, with $1.6-billion in cash, shares and other assets, then ceded most of his control of the family empire to his daughter, Belinda Stronach, while he went back to his native Austria to pursue a run at politics. That political career proved short. In 2014, he returned to Canada to focus his energies on new ventures. Before long, his daughter grew alarmed at the rate at which he was draining that vast family fortune. Last year, she turned off the taps. They’ve been at war ever since. Story (Andrew Willis, for subscribers)
Statscan willing to delay launch of plan to obtain personal banking records but insists it’s ultimately necessary: Canada’s chief statistician says he is open to delaying the January launch of a plan to obtain the banking records of 500,000 Canadians in light of concerns from the public, but Anil Arora insists the move is ultimately required to ensure Canada is governed by facts rather than anecdotes and “fake news." Story (Bill Curry)
Encana widens North American reach: Encana Corp. is paying US$5.5-billion to add a new American oil-production region to its operations, saying the deal will lead to higher dividends and share buybacks. Story (Jeffrey Jones, for subscribers)
Manulife re-insures legacy liabilities: Manulife Financial Corp. has secured agreements to re-insure close to $13-billion worth of its legacy liabilities, allowing the Canadian life insurer to release $1-billion worth of capital that is backstopping the contracts. Story (Tim Kiladze, for subscribers)
OpenText buys Georgia cloud company for $310-million: Hoping to deepen its cloud capabilities, Open Text Corp. has agreed to buy the Atlanta-area cloud data-management company Liaison Technologies Inc. for US$310-million. The Waterloo, Ont., software company announced the all-cash deal with its fiscal first-quarter 2019 results Wednesday afternoon. Story (Josh O’Kane, for subscribers)
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan veterans launch Peloton private-equity fund: Veterans of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan launched a private-equity fund on Thursday with plans to distinguish their firm from a crowded field by making long-term commitments to the businesses they buy. Story (Andrew Willis, for subscribers)
Vanguard Canada shakes up executive ranks, names new country head: Vanguard Canada is shaking up its executive ranks, appointing Kathy Bock as its new country head effective next year. Ms. Bock, who currently serves as principal and head of the Americas region, will replace Atul Tiwari in her new role as head of Vanguard Investments Canada on Jan. 1. Story (Clare O’Hara, for subscribers)
Privacy commissioner launches investigation into Statistics Canada’s efforts to obtain banking records: Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien is launching an investigation into Statistics Canada after receiving complaints about the agency’s plan to obtain detailed personal banking records. Mr. Therrien announced the investigation Wednesday afternoon. Story (Bill Curry)
Centerra has ‘refused to engage’ Chaarat Gold’s takeover proposal: A London gold company has disclosed that it made a takeover proposal, valued at about $2-billion, for Toronto’s Centerra Gold as part of its ambition to emerge as a mining force in central Asia. In a statement filed Wednesday with the London Stock Exchange, Chaarat Gold Holdings said that, on Sept. 18, it proposed buying Centerra in an-all cash transaction at 35 per cent above Centerra’s share price, which was then $5.48 (Centerra closed Monday at $4.95, valuing the company at $1.45-billion). Story (Eric Reguly and Niall McGee, for subscribers)
HBC, RioCan in talks to redevelop Vancouver property: Hudson’s Bay Co.'s prized Vancouver retail property is no longer for sale and the department store chain is considering redeveloping the prime real estate with its joint owner RioCan. HBC and RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust had been in talks to sell the property to Chinese billionaire Zheng Jianjiang, the chairman of Chinese manufacturing firm Ningbo Sanxing Electric, The Globe and Mail reported in May. Story (Rachelle Younglai, for subscribers)
New insurance laws hit hedge funds and short-sellers targeting Canadian life insurers: The government of Saskatchewan has made changes to the province’s insurance regulations that will help protect three life insurers facing potentially large legal claims over decades-old insurance contracts. The rules, announced Monday, create new hurdles for the institutional investors pursuing a trio of lawsuits against Canadian life insurers. Story (Tim Kiladze, for subscribers)
Power Corp.’s fintech venture fund Portag3 raises $198-million: Montreal’s billionaire Desmarais family is expanding its investment in the financial technology sector through its Power Corp. of Canada conglomerate, and drawing additional funds from other players, to create one of the country’s largest venture capital funds. Story (Sean Silcoff, for subscribers)
More people borrowing from alternative lenders, not banks, as a result of new mortgage rules: report: Canada’s tougher new mortgage qualification rules have driven more business to private lenders, who are seeing soaring demand from borrowers who cannot qualify for bank loans. A new study by land registry company Teranet and Toronto real estate broker John Pasalis shows private lenders are especially gaining ground in the market for mortgage refinancings, which are mortgage loans that do not involve a sale of a property. Story (Janet McFarland, for subscribers)
Back from the brink: Home Capital faces heated competition, cooler markets: Mortgage company Home Capital Group Inc. has officially branded its post-crisis era “Home 2.0,” but some employees just call it “the comeback.” Story (James Bradshaw, for subscribers)
Toronto’s Think Research raises $25-million from Canadian, U.S. VCs: Think Research Corp., a Toronto-based startup that uses artificial-intelligence technologies to help health care professionals determine the best treatment for patients, has raised $25-million from Canadian and U.S. investors. Story (Josh O’Kane, for subscribers)
Hamilton-born Red Hat founder Bob Young reflects on IBM’s $34-billion acquisition: On Sunday, IBM Corp. announced it was buying open-source cloud development software company Red Hat for US$34-billion, marking one of the biggest acquisitions in the technology business. The company has Canadian roots in Hamilton, Ont.-born Robert Young, who started the company with North Carolina-based software engineer Marc Ewing 25 years ago. Red Hat specializes in Linux operating systems, the most popular type of open-source software, which was developed as an alternative to proprietary software made by Microsoft Corp. Story (Sean Silcoff, for subscribers)
Red Hat shares jump, IBM stock dips on merger deal: IBM Corp.’s US$34-billion deal to buy Red Hat Inc. drove shares in the small but fast-growing software maker about 50 per cent higher on Monday, reflecting the huge premium IBM is paying to ward off any potential challenger bids. Story (for subscribers)
Korean fund manager to invest up to $600-million in Canadian commercial real estate: A Korean real estate fund manager is hunting for Canadian property and plans to invest up to $600-million over the next year. Fresh off its first Canadian real estate investment in October, KTB Asset Management Co. Ltd. is scouring Toronto and Vancouver for offices, hotels, distribution centres and other large properties. Story (Rachelle Younglai, for subscribers)
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