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Private and public investors who once balked at owning a piece of Whistler Blackcomb Holdings Inc. now appreciate the opportunity they missed, after Vail Resorts Inc. announced plans to buy the Canadian ski resort for $1.4-billion.

In 2010, Intrawest ULC, the resort's former owner, hoped to recoup some money after a problematic buyout by selling it to private buyers. When that failed, an initial public offering was dusted off as Plan B. It eventually worked, but to get the deal sold Whistler Blackcomb's valuation had to be slashed twice.

Five and a half years later, Vail is buying the company for triple its IPO price.

Throughout the IPO process, institutional investors and retail buyers showed tepid interest, partly because they worried the Canadian dollar was too high to lure out-of-country skiers. The resort was supposed go public in a $300-million deal at $15 a share; it eventually settled on $12 apiece. At that level, the company's dividend yield amounted to an eyebrow raising 8.1 per cent.

Even then, the shares fell during their first year of trading. Many investors assumed it was a volatile company with a lot of seasonality, meaning cash flows were thought to be overly reliant on winter skiing.

By 2014, that sentiment changed. All the worries about choppy cash flows proved to be futile, so investors started thinking of the company as more of a yield play.

Surviving two tough winters helped solidify that view. Story

Inter Pipeline buys Williams NGL business

Inter Pipeline Ltd. is buying Williams Cos. Inc.'s and Williams Partners LP's Canadian natural gas liquids business for $1.35-billion, giving it ownership of facilities that strip a key byproduct from oil-sands processing.

As part of the acquisition, Inter will take over the blueprints for a $1.85-billion propane plant northeast of Edmonton that is on the verge of a go-ahead decision.

Oklahoma-based Williams operates two gas-liquids extraction facilities near Fort McMurray, Alta., a processing plant for the products in Redwater, Alta., near Edmonton, and a 43,000 barrel-a-day pipeline that connects them. Story

ON THE MOVE

Sherrington tapped for HomEquity board

Reverse mortgage lender HomEquity Bank appointed a veteran deal maker to its board of directors on Monday, with former Bank of Nova Scotia executive John Sherrington joining the Toronto-based company. Founded in 1986 in Vancouver, HomEquity Bank has grown to a national company with a federal banking charter and a business focused on allowing homeowners, typically aged 55 or older, to borrow against the value of their residences. The company was originally known as Canadian Home Income Plan Corp., and is active in acquisitions and financing, sectors where Mr. Sherrington spent his 40-year career prior to retiring as vice-chairman of global investment banking at Scotiabank in 2015. Story

Fleurent leaves Canaccord

Pierre Fleurent, Canaccord's head banker in Montreal, is no longer with the company. "Pierre has accepted a position outside of investment banking and will continue to be available as a special advisor on select projects," Dan Daviau, chief executive officer of Canaccord, wrote in an e-mail to The Globe and Mail. "We continue to have a team in place to ensure seamless transition of coverage." Story

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