Here are the top reads on deals and financial services over the last week.
Crypto Copycat: A Calgary-based technology startup has pulled the marketing materials for a planned cryptocurrency offering after it was discovered that large sections were copied wholesale from another firm’s documents. Imaginea AI, co-founded by Suzanne West, a respected environmental and energy entrepreneur who died in March, plans to raise $30-million in a regulated initial token offering, with proceeds aimed at funding development of artificial intelligence technology. Story (Jeffrey Jones and Alexandra Posadzki, for subscribers)
MCAP CEO: At the tail end of his tenure running alternative lender MCAP Financial Corp, Derek Norton tried to take the company public in a $275-million deal. Even after years of explosive growth, he couldn’t get the deal to close. Two years later, Mr. Norton is retiring, a move announced abruptly on Thursday. In doing so, he leaves his IPO goal unfilled. Story (Tim Kiladze, for subscribers)
Bombardier: Bombardier Inc.’s strategic advantage over archrival Embraer SA might be gone, but the company’s chief executive says it remains months ahead in the battle for single-aisle jetliner sales. Less than a week after the Montreal-based plane maker finalized its tie-up with European giant Airbus SE, Embraer on Thursday announced its own joint venture with Boeing Co. Story (Nicolas Van Praet)
IPO outlook bolstered: Rising energy prices are expected to breathe some life into the market for initial public offerings, after political uncertainty weighed on executives and made for a sluggish start to the year. Story (Alexandra Posadzki, for subscribers)
Not the whole story: League tables, the charts that are every investment banker’s favourite way to establish bragging rights on Bay Street, don’t tell the whole story of what is happening this year in Canadian capital markets. Story (Andrew Willis, for subscribers)
Enbridge sale: Enbridge Inc. is shedding its Canadian natural gas gathering and processing business in a $4.31-billion sale to Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP (BIP) and other investors as the pipeline giant seeks to cut debt and fund growth. Story (Jeff Lewis and Jacqueline Nelson)
Enbridge CEO: Al Monaco is nothing if not methodical. It was just a few months ago that Enbridge’s chief executive officer was up against a daunting list of tasks aimed at counteracting worries that had enveloped the pipeline company, which had long been a bulwark against market uncertainty. Column (Jeffrey Jones, for subscribers)
Tricon revamp: Coming up on a decade as a public company, one-time real estate darling Tricon Capital Corp. is re-inventing itself, again – and the new iteration should make the firm look more like its former self. Story (Tim Kiladze, for subscribers)
Flinks: Several of Quebec’s most influential financial institutions have teamed up to invest in a financial-technology startup aiming to bridge the gap between established banks and digital upstarts. Montreal-based Flinks has raised a modest $1.75-million in new funding, but it is the pedigree of its main backers that stands out. Leading the way are National Bank of Canada, the country’s sixth-largest lender, and Luge Capital, a new Canadian venture-capital fund supported, in turn, by financial sector heavyweights including Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Desjardins Group. Story (James Bradshaw, for subscribers)
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