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A Bay Street sign is seen in Toronto’s financial district.Mark Blinch

Here are the top reads,

Street moves: Bank of Nova Scotia's capital markets arm has hired Mark Mulroney for a senior position, one created to help manage key client relationships. Story (Tim Kiladze, for subscribers)

Financing: Three of North America's top early stage venture funds have committed to lead a US$10-million-plus financing of CryptoKitties, a blockchain-based collectibles game that allows users to buy, sell and "breed" digital cats. Story (Alexandra Posadzki and Sean Silcoff, for subscribers)

Tech sector acquisition: Vision Critical Communications Inc. used to suffer from a double-vision problem – until a year ago, when director and one-time CEO Angus Reid cashed out of the firm his son Andrew founded in the early 2000s, ending a tumultuous chapter of clashing leadership and governance for the Vancouver marketing-software firm. Story (Sean Silcoff, for subscribers)

DEALS AND FINANCINGS WRAP

Takeover approvals: Investor skepticism appears to be growing that Aecon Group Inc.'s takeover by a Chinese company will be approved by the Canadian government, at least in its present form. Story

IPOs: Cloud storage firm Dropbox Inc raised the price range for its initial public offering by $2 on Wednesday as investors bid strongly for the first big tech IPO this year ahead of final pricing expected on Thursday. Story

Pension funds: The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan is spending about $400-million to take a 3.4 per cent stake in French video game giant Ubisoft as part of a complex deal that will allow French conglomerate Vivendi to sell all of its Ubisoft shares. Story

Buyouts: Department store operator Nordstrom ended buyout talks with family members of the company's founder, saying Tuesday it couldn't get the group to raise its price. Story

Mega-takeovers: German conglomerate Bayer won EU antitrust approval on Wednesday for its US$62.5-billion (£44.43 billion) buy of U.S. peer Monsanto, the last of a trio of mega mergers that will reshape the agrochemicals industry. Story (for subscribers)

Canadian venture capital: Ottawa-based Careworx has raised $17 million from California-based Kayne Partners, a growth private equity group of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors is an alternative investment firm managing over $26 billion in assets. BetaKit

Canadian venture capital: Toronto-based vape manufacturer Green Tank Technologies has raised a $4.3 million seed round from Toronto-based Green Acre Capital and Snoop Dogg's venture capital firm Casa Verde. BetaKit

Tech sector: Music streaming company Pandora made a rare foray into acquisitions today with the news that it has snapped up adtech startup AdsWizz. VentureBeat

U.S. venture capital: Fraud detection startup Sift Science has raised US$53 million in a series D round of funding led by Manhattan-based VC firm Stripes Group, with participation from existing investors, including Union Square Ventures, Insight Venture Partners, and Spark Capital. VentureBeat

U.S. venture capital: KeepTruckin, a company that provides trucking firms with technology for tracking vehicles and keeping digital logs of hours driven, has raised US$50 million in a series C round of funding led by IVP, with participation from existing investors GV (formerly Google Ventures), Index Ventures, and Scale Venture Partners. VentureBeat

OBITUARIES

When her husband's first big deal was hanging in the balance, Jacqueline Desmarais, who died this month at the age of 89, said to him: "Don't worry, Paul, if it doesn't work out, I can go back to nursing." Obituary (for subscribers)

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Regulators: A national investment industry regulator is making headway in its ability to gain greater investigative power in the battle for investor protection. Manitoba's Minister of Finance Cameron Friesen introduced legislative amendments on Monday to the Securities Act (Manitoba) that would grant the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) the legal ability to enforce through the courts its fines against individuals that engage in misconduct, sending a strong deterrent message to potential wrongdoers. Story (Clare O'Hara)

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Tickers mentioned in this story

Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 28/03/24 4:00pm EDT.

SymbolName% changeLast
ARE-T
Aecon Group Inc
+0.41%17.01
BNS-N
Bank of Nova Scotia
+1.21%51.78
BNS-T
Bank of Nova Scotia
+0.94%70.07
JWN-N
Nordstrom
+1.76%20.27

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