A roundup of some of the North American equities making moves in both directions today
On the rise
Shares of Canopy Growth Corp. (WEED-T) were up over 14 per cent on Monday after announcing Constellation Brands Inc. (STZ-N) finance head David Klein will take over in January as chief executive officer of the pot producer.
Mr. Klein was appointed Canopy chairman in October after Constellation booked a $430 million net loss related to the company. He replaces company co-CEO Mark Zekulin who took over the top job from founder Bruce Linton in July.
Mr. Linton had said that he was fired from the top job, days after Constellation expressed its disappointment over Canopy’s 2018 results.
Shares of Constellation were down 1.3 per cent in New York.
See also: Canopy shares fall as Constellation says it doesn’t intend to make further investments
Medicenna Therapeutics Corp. (MDNA-T), a Toronto-based clinical stage immuno-oncology company, jumped 20.7 per cent after announcing plans to present the results from the latest trial for its MDNA55 drug for the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma at a conference in Boston on Wednesday.
The company is also set for a presentation at the 12th Annual LD Micro Main Event Investor Conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
On the decline
Hudson’s Bay Co. (HBC-T) slid 1 per cent after its special committee said on Monday it was disappointed with proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services’ recommendation to vote against the takeover bid by a consortium led by the retailer’s chairman, Richard Baker.
“We are disappointed by the ISS recommendation and the errors and flawed rationale of ISS,” said David Leith, chair of the retailer’s special committee that negotiated the deal with Baker’s group.
ISS last week recommended shareholders to vote against the Baker-led consortium’s $1.9-billion deal, which was topped by Toronto-based buyout firm Catalyst Capital Group Inc.
The special committee in November had rejected Catalyst’s offer saying it was not “superior”.
See also: ISS hands win to Catalyst on eve of HBC hearing
Merck & Co. (MRK-N) were lower by 0.2 per cent after it said on Monday it would buy cancer drug developer ArQule Inc. (ARQL-Q) in a US$2.7-billion all-cash deal, bolstering its oncology franchise with the smaller rival’s lead drug that is being tested as a treatment for blood cancer.
The offer of US$20 per share for ArQule is more than double its closing price on Friday.
The deal, expected to close early in the first quarter of 2020, would give Merck access to ArQule’s experimental treatment ARQ 531, a precision medicine that tailors treatment to a patient’s genetic profile.
Massachusetts-based ArQule jumped 103.7 per cent.
3M Co. (MMM-N) slipped 1 per cent after an equity analyst at Citi downgraded its stock to “neutral” from a “buy” recommendation.
Andrew Kaplowitz said: “While we think MMM’s shorter-cycle end markets could be closer to a bottom and execution seems poised to improve, growing PFAS-litigation related risks could be a lingering overhang that prevents a re-rating to its former premium multiple.”
With files from staff and wires
David Leeder