Canadian department store operator Hudson’s Bay Co said it saw no merit in activist fund Land & Buildings Investment Management's recent appeal against the Toronto Stock Exchange’s conditional approval for a US$500 million ($638 million) investment from Rhône Capital, Reuters reported. Hudson’s Bay said this week it had written consent for the equity investment from shareholders representing well over 50 percent of its outstanding common shares. Earlier this month, Land and Buildings, a U.S. hedge fund headed by activist investor Jonathan Litt, had urged the company to call for a non-insider vote on Rhône’s investment, saying the ones who voted had a “special interest” in the deal. Land and Buildings had a near 5 percent stake in Hudson’s Bay as of July.
1 min read · 16 November 2017
As Hudson’s Bay Co steps up the pace of extracting value from its US$5 billion property portfolio, the department store chain’s shareholders want it to reduce debt, return cash to them, and not invest the proceeds in traditional retail operations, Reuters reported. Hudson’s Bay is not new to selling real estate, but its actions are under greater scrutiny amid rising tensions between the company and U.S. activist hedge fund Land & Buildings Investment Management. The fund wants the Canadian owner of Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor to sell or convert stores to alternate uses and transform itself into a real estate play.
3 min read · 14 November 2017
Ride-hailing company Lyft Inc said this week it would launch its service in Toronto, marking the first international expansion for the U.S.-based rival of Uber Technologies Inc, Reuters reported. "Before you know it, Lyft will be coming to you live in Toronto," the company said in a blogpost, without giving a launch date. Lyft is crossing into Canada at a time when rival Uber has opted out of operating in Québec to avoid following tough new regulations for drivers. Lyft raised US$1 billion in October, in a round led by the growth investment fund of Alphabet Inc. One of the company's investors is Canada's Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments).
1 min read · 13 November 2017
The Riverside Company has acquired Kii Naturals, a Canadian maker of all-natural artisan crackers as an add-on for portfolio company NuStef Baking. No financial terms were disclosed.
2 min read · 13 November 2017
Canadian real estate investment firm Brookfield Property Partners LP this week made an unsolicited bid to buy the 66 percent stake in Chicago-based mall owner GGP Inc it does not own for US$14.8 billion in cash and stock, Reuters reported. With about 127 properties, mostly in the United States, GGP’s tenants include carmaker Tesla, jeweler Tiffany & Co and retailer Macy’s Inc. The deal is expected to create a company with an ownership interest in almost US$100 billion real estate assets globally and annual net operating income of about US$5 billion, Brookfield said. GGP shareholders will own about 30 percent of the combined company.
2 min read · 13 November 2017
Resurrected Canadian steelmaker Stelco Holdings Inc is banking on growth from ramped-up production and acquisitions, Chief Executive Alan Kestenbaum told Reuters, as the 107-year-old company completed its initial public offering. Hamilton, Ontario-based Stelco, owned by U.S. private equity group Bedrock Industries, will use part of its $230 million IPO proceeds on projects that boost capacity at its two steel-processing facilities in southern Ontario. The listing also allows quick access to capital markets if a suitable M&A deal emerges among “numerous” potential targets, Kestenbaum said.
2 min read · 10 November 2017
Canadian fertilizer producer and farm supplier Agrium Inc said this week it will sell its Idaho phosphate production facility for US$100 million to fertilizer company Itafos, to address concerns of U.S. regulators about its merger with Potash Corp of Saskatchewan, Reuters reported. Under the deal, Itafos gets Agrium’s Conda, Idaho plant and adjacent mineral rights. Separately, Agrium will sell its North Bend, Ohio, nitric acid plant to a subsidiary of Trammo Inc for an undisclosed price. In June, Itafos closed a US$34.05 million funding deal with Zaff, Pala Investments and J.P. Morgan Asset Management. Itafos recently redomiciled from Canada to the Cayman Islands.
2 min read · 07 November 2017
Signa Holding GmbH, the Austrian property and retail group that owns German department store operator Karstadt, sent Hudson’s Bay Co this week details of the financing it has put together for its 3 billion euro bid (US$3.5 billion) for Kaufhof, a German retail chain owned by Hudson’s Bay, Reuters reported. Hudson’s Bay had said last week it would review Signa’s offer for Kaufhof, but also called it incomplete, non-binding and unsolicited, with no evidence of financing. U.S. activist hedge fund Land & Buildings Investment Management LLC, which has been pressuring Hudson’s Bay to consider asset sales, said last week it was unclear what additional evidence Hudson’s Bay would expect at this stage regarding Signa’s ability to finance the Kaufhof transaction.
4 min read · 07 November 2017
General Electric Co is exploring options for its aircraft leasing operations, including the sale of all or part of the business, as Chief Executive John Flannery searches for new divestitures, sources told Reuters. GE is considering options for GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS), the world’s second-largest lessor, following expressions of interest from some of its competitors, the sources said. A spin-off of the business is also a possibility. In June, GECAS struck a partnership with Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Canada’s second largest pension fund, to create a new company focused on leasing high-tech, fuel-efficient narrow-body aircraft.
2 min read · 06 November 2017
A unit of Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management said it is evaluating a number of telecom tower portfolios in India to scale its presence after talks to acquire over 40,000 towers from debt-laden Reliance Communications hit a snag, Reuters reported. The deal with Brookfield hinged on Reliance Communications, or RCom, merging its mobile operations with rival Aircel but the merger was called off last month due to regulatory delays and legal uncertainties. "The merger will not proceed and therefore our transaction as previously announced will not proceed either. However, we continue to monitor the evolving situation to determine if revised terms can be agreed upon," Brookfield Infrastructure Partners said in an SEC filing on November 3. Brookfield said it is still pursuing RCom and other opportunities in this sector to scale its presence in India.
2 min read · 06 November 2017
