Here are the top reads on deals and financial services over the last 24 hours,
Hydro One’s governance issues called out by rating agency S&P: A leading debt-rating agency is warning about governance problems at Hydro One Ltd. after the state of Washington cited political interference from the Ontario government in rejecting the utility’s first major acquisition. Story (Tim Kiladze, for subscribers)
Quirky Canadian stock tickers now range from NERD to CARS to WEED: When Charlie Regan decided to take public his mobile IT services company, he knew right away what ticker symbol he wanted the stock to trade under: NERD. “That’s what the team is,” said Mr. Regan, the CEO of Nerds on Site Inc., which services small- to medium-sized businesses. “They’re nerds.” To his surprise, the ticker symbol was still available. “We were all quite shocked,” he said. “We locked it down right away.” Nerds on Site, which closed its initial public offering on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) on Nov. 26, is one of a batch of companies getting creative with their stock tickers. Story (Alexandra Posadszki and David Milstead, for subscribers)
What crisis? Canada’s Big Six banks brush off oil-price crash: Canada’s largest banks are brushing off the recent crash in domestic-crude prices, confident that their loan books are in solid shape. Collectively, the Big Six banks reported $45-billion in annual profits for fiscal 2018, which ended on Oct 31. Yet on recent conference calls to discuss their fourth-quarter earnings, analysts pressed executives for details about their loan exposures to oil and gas companies, worried that a crisis could be brewing behind the scenes, resulting in large write-downs. Story (Tim Kiladze and Alexandra Posadzki, for subscribers)
How Canopy is pushing into the U.S. cannabis market while staying onside of TSX rules: Officially, Canopy Growth Corp. is steering clear of investments in the United States. Over the past year, however, Canada’s largest cannabis company and its affiliates have been quietly securing U.S. exposure through a series of legal manoeuvres that stay onside of Toronto Stock Exchange rules but position Canopy for a rapid move into the U.S. market. Since October, 2017, TMX Group Ltd., the exchange’s parent, has not let TSX-listed cannabis firms operate in the United States, where marijuana remains federally illegal. That has forced companies to think creatively, spinning off subsidiaries, swapping shares and lining up conditional warrants, which allow them to acquire future positions in U.S. companies. Story (Mark Rendell, for subscribers)
Does Paul Godfrey know when to walk away?: Earlier this year, billionaire hedge-fund manager Leon Cooperman asked Paul Godfrey the question many are wondering: Why does an executive who is nearly 80 years old continue to run a debt-heavy public company that cries out for reinvention? Mr. Cooperman has been snapping up shares in Postmedia Network Canada Corp. and now owns 14 per cent of the company that publishes the National Post, Calgary Herald, Ottawa Citizen and other digital and print publications across the country. Opinion (Andrew Willis, for subscribers)
MORE DEALS NEWS
Takeover offer: A director who served for 25 years on the board of Badger Daylighting Ltd. said he’s resigning over its decision not to bring to its investors a secret takeover proposal made last summer. Story (for subscribers)
Injunction: A Brazilian federal court has overturned an injunction that blocked a proposed tie-up between plane makers Embraer and Boeing, Embraer said on Monday in a securities filing. Story (for subscribers)
Cannabis sector: Aurora Cannabis Inc. has signed a deal to acquire Mexican company Farmacias Magistrales. Story (for subscribers)
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