Canadian grocery and pharmacy retailer Loblaw Cos Ltd said it would sell its gas station business to asset manager Brookfield Business Partners LP for about $540 million, Reuters reported. The deal, which includes Loblaw's 213 retail gas stations and convenience stores adjacent to the gas stations across Canada, is expected to close in the third quarter of 2017. Brookfield Business Partners was spun out of Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management last year. The listed vehicle allows Brookfield shareholders to invest directly in the firm's private equity portfolio.
2 min read · 19 April 2017
Canada could grow into a thriving market for climate friendly "green bonds" if the federal government meets a campaign pledge to turn to this type of financing, Reuters reported. Canada is preparing to spend more than $180 billion over 12 years to support infrastructure, including green infrastructure. Green bond issuance by the government could kick-start deals from the private sector and boost liquidity in the green bond market. This might reduce the cost of borrowing for environmental projects, given growing demand from socially responsible investors.
2 min read · 18 April 2017
Chinese footwear giant Belle International Holdings Ltd has suspended trading in its shares pending an announcement related to Hong Kong's "takeovers and mergers" code, the firm said in a filing on Tuesday.
1 min read · 18 April 2017
U.S. drug distributor Cardinal Health Inc (CAH.N) agreed to buy medical device maker Medtronic Plc's (MDT.N) medical supplies units for $6.1 billion and said it expected full-year adjusted earnings at the lower end of its forecast.
2 min read · 18 April 2017
Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit as gains in investment banking were offset by weak trading revenue, Reuters reported.
1 min read · 18 April 2017
Finland's Kamux, an online used car retailer, is making a fresh attempt to list its shares after withdrawing an initial public offering (IPO) last year, it said on Tuesday.
1 min read · 18 April 2017
Malaysia's $28 billion Retirement Fund Incorporated (KWAP) has picked a $100 million stake in edotco, the telecommunications infrastructure services unit of mobile network operator Axiata Group Bhd., Reuters reported.
1 min read · 18 April 2017
U.K. financial software provider Misys has launched a jumbo US$5.7 billion-equivalent financing backing its merger with Canadian fintech company DH Corp, Reuters reported. The deal will bring much-desired supply to the loan market on both sides of the Atlantic during a period of subdued new issuance and rampant re-pricings. U.S. private equity firm Vista Equity Partners said in March it would buy Toronto-based DH Corp for $4.8 billion and combine it with Misys, which abandoned plans to list on the London stock market in 2016, blaming shaky market conditions.
2 min read · 18 April 2017
Williams Partners LP said on Monday it would sell its stake in a unit that owns 88.46 percent of an olefins plant in Louisiana to Nova Chemicals Corp for US$2.1 billion in cash, as part of the pipeline operator's efforts to focus on natural gas, Reuters reported. The company said its units would enter into long-term supply and transportation agreements with Nova after the deal closes, expected by this summer. Calgary-based Nova Chemicals is owned by International Petroleum Investment Co, set up by the Abu Dhabi government to invest in the energy and related sectors.
2 min read · 17 April 2017
A London and Vancouver, British Columbia company built around the research of Craig Wright, who has claimed to have invented the bitcoin cryptocurrency, has been sold to a private equity firm in a deal the company says is the biggest to date involving bitcoin's underlying blockchain technology, Reuters reported. According to a news release late last week, Malta-based High Tech Private Equity Fund SICAV plc bought nChain Holdings, "the world leader in blockchain-centric research and development." It put no value on the deal. Reuters previously identified nChain, formerly known as EITC Holdings Ltd, as Wright's vehicle for filing hundreds of bitcoin and blockchain-related patents.
4 min read · 17 April 2017
