Over the past 10 years, Bay Street’s best-rated stocks failed to beat the S&P/TSX composite index.Mark Blinch/The Globe and Mail
Here were the top reads from the week. Have a great weekend,
Real estate deal making: Ivanhoé Cambridge is in talks to sell two of its mall investments in Toronto and the Vancouver area but is yanking its Calgary stake off the market as the shopping centre is being redeveloped, according to people familiar with the matter. Story (Rachelle Younglai, for subscribers)
Mystery solved: Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce led a $20-million credit facility extended to MedReleaf Corp. last April to help the cannabis company grow. Story (Christina Pellegrini and James Bradshaw, for subscribers)
Pot going mainstream in banking: BMO's equity financing for Canopy is, in some ways, a watershed moment that will put pressure on other leading banks to find ways to cash in on the burgeoning marijuana sector. But don't expect Canada's largest lenders to open their arms to the industry just yet. Story (Christina Pellegrini and James Bradshaw, for subscribers)
Pot M&A update: CanniMed Therapeutics Inc. has postponed a shareholder vote on its proposed takeover of recreational cannabis company Newstrike Resources Ltd., and will enter into talks with hostile bidder Aurora Cannabis Inc. Story (Jeff Jones, for subscribers)
Executive appointment: Camilla Sutton is taking on the top job at Women in Capital Markets, an organization aimed at promoting gender diversity in the financial services industry. Story (Alexandra Posadzki, for subscribers)
Aecon saga: We are in the final stages of an occasionally nasty campaign to block the $1.5-billion takeover of one of Canada's largest construction companies, Aecon Group Inc., by a far larger state-controlled Chinese firm. Story (Andrew Willis, for subscribers)
More on the Aecon saga: The Chinese state-owned firm seeking the Trudeau government's approval to buy Aecon recently notified its shareholders it will establish a Communist Party of China unit inside its corporate ranks. Story (Steven Chase, for subscribers)
Groundbreaking bought deal: Bank of Montreal became the first major Canadian bank to lead an equity financing for a public company in the medical marijuana sector, underwriting a $175-million stock sale for Canopy Growth Corp. Story (Jacqueline Nelson)
New fund: Power Corp. of Canada is courting new investors with the launch of a private-debt fund that will rely on the company's web of relationships. Story (Jacqueline Nelson, for subscribers)
Pot merger vote: Shareholders of Newstrike Resources Ltd., the cannabis company backed by the Tragically Hip, have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a friendly takeover by CanniMed Therapeutics Inc., moving the contentious deal closer to fruition. Story (Jeffrey Jones, for subscribers)
Canadian venture financing: Canadian story-sharing platform Wattpad Corp. closed a funding round of $51-million (U.S.) led by Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. Story (for subscribers)
Takeover approval: Canada's largest construction companies are urging the federal government to block the proposed $1.5-billion acquisition of Aecon Group Inc., a major domestic rival, by a state-controlled Chinese firm. Story (Andrew Willis, Jeffrey Jones, Steven Chase, for subscribers)
Canadian venture financing: Vention Inc., which helps other firms build machines, has raised $3.5-million in seed financing led by White Star Capital with backing from early investors Bolt Innovation Management of Boston, Montreal's Real Ventures, and several prominent North American tech executives including serial Montreal tech entrepreneur Louis Tetu. Story (Sean Silcoff, for subscribers)
Manulife watch: For the second time in as many months, a surprising shakeup in the American insurance market has dimmed the prospects for one of Manulife Financial Corp.'s most troublesome businesses, suggesting once again that the fixes promised by the insurer's newly minted chief executive officer will come with costs attached. Story (Tim Kiladze, for subscribers)
People move: Nick Thadaney is leaving TMX Group Ltd. as part of a broader shuffle at the top ranks of Canada's largest stock market operator. Story (Christina Pellegrini, for subscribers)
People move: One of Canada's best-known mining bankers jumped to a junior gold company. Story (Niall McGee, for subscribers)
Liquidation: Like so many fallen companies, it was debt that sank Carillion PLC, the giant British construction concern that employs 6,000 Canadians. Story (Tim Kiladze, for subscribers)
Lawsuit: Canada's six biggest banks are facing a lawsuit filed with a New York court that alleges they conspired with three other global banking giants to rig a Canadian interest-rate benchmark and boost profits. Story (James Bradshaw, for subscribers)
FRIDAY'S STORY WRAP
Bonus season: Some traders at the largest Wall Street banks are about to get big, fat zeroes for bonuses while they watch markets thrive. Story
Canadian venture financing: Iris Automation has raised a $10-million series A from Silicon Valley firm Bessemer Venture Partners. Betakit
IPOs: Would you look at that? ADT Inc. is back on the New York Stock Exchange less than 19 months after it was taken private by Apollo Global Management LLC. But to describe the deal as a swift private equity exit would be a misconception. Bloomberg
U.S. venture financing: Iris Automation, a San Francisco-based startup that's building collision avoidance systems for industrial drones and other autonomous flying machines, has closed an $8-million (U.S.) series A round of funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from Bee Partners. VentureBeat