These are the deals and financings that caught our eye this week
A green investment wave is washing over Canada. Canadian cleantech financing surged 335 per cent, setting the sector up for a record year. The growing sector secured $3.09 billion in equity financings during the first six months of 2021.
Pfizer Inc. is buying Canadian drug developer Trillium Therapeutics Inc. in a US$2.26-billion deal, adding to its roster of blood cancer therapies. Pfizer acquired a US$25 million stake in Trillium last year and plans to buy the remaining outstanding shares for US$18.50 each, a 203.8 per cent premium on the stock’s closing price on Friday.
Wealthsimple Cash became the first Canadian payment service to be integrated into Twitter’s Tip Jar, which allows users to transfer money to each other. Tip Jar, which launched in beta mode in May, operates with U.S.-based PayPal, Venmo, Bandcamp, Patreon and Square’s Cash App.
Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is in talks to acquire at least US$1 billion in student-housing properties through a joint venture with Scion Group LLC. The deal would be the alternative-asset manager’s first bet on the U.S. sector.
British Columbia-based Blockstream joined the ranks of Canada’s unicorns after raising US$210 million, valuing the bitcoin infrastructure company at US$4 billion.
Billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit is going public via a merger with a SPAC. The deal with the blank-cheque firm values the small satellite launch service at US$3.2 billion.
Buyout firm Apollo Global Management Inc. is raising a US$500-million fund to invest in SPACs. The fund is one of the first of its kind, and it’s the New York company’s most recent move into the investment trend.
Baseball card maker Topps shelved its deal to go public through a merger with a SPAC as Major League Baseball decided not to renew its 70-year old trading card partnership with the firm. The MLB instead entered into an exclusive deal with a new company controlled by retailer Fanatics Inc.
Financial Post
• Email: smarotta@postmedia.com | Twitter:
_____________________________________________________________
If you liked this story, sign up for more in the FP Energy newsletter.
_____________________________________________________________
NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Tesla soared Wednesday as investors bet that the electric vehicle maker and its CEO Elon Musk will benefit from Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Tesla stands to make significant gains under a Trump administration with the threat of diminished subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles doing the most harm to smaller competitors. Trump’s plans for extensive tariffs on Chinese imports make it less likely that Chinese EVs will be sold in bulk in the U.S. anytime soon.
“Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note to investors. “This dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players.”
Tesla shares jumped 14.8% Wednesday while shares of rival electric vehicle makers tumbled. Nio, based in Shanghai, fell 5.3%. Shares of electric truck maker Rivian dropped 8.3% and Lucid Group fell 5.3%.
Tesla dominates sales of electric vehicles in the U.S, with 48.9% in market share through the middle of 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Subsidies for clean energy are part of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. It included tax credits for manufacturing, along with tax credits for consumers of electric vehicles.
Musk was one of Trump’s biggest donors, spending at least $119 million mobilizing Trump’s supporters to back the Republican nominee. He also pledged to give away $1 million a day to voters signing a petition for his political action committee.
In some ways, it has been a rocky year for Tesla, with sales and profit declining through the first half of the year. Profit did rise 17.3% in the third quarter.
The U.S. opened an investigation into the company’s “Full Self-Driving” system after reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. The investigation covers roughly 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.
And investors sent company shares tumbling last month after Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night, seeing not much progress at Tesla on autonomous vehicles while other companies have been making notable progress.
Tesla began selling the software, which is called “Full Self-Driving,” nine years ago. But there are doubts about its reliability.
The stock is now showing a 16.1% gain for the year after rising the past two days.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in base metal and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.40 points at 24,542.48.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.31 points at 42,932.73. The S&P 500 index was up 7.14 points at 5,822.40, while the Nasdaq composite was down 9.03 points at 18,306.56.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.44 cents US on Tuesday.
The November crude oil contract was down 71 cents at US$69.87 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,686.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.35 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were also headed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.86 points at 24,508.12.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 336.62 points at 42,790.74. The S&P 500 index was up 34.19 points at 5,814.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 60.27 points at 18.342.32.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.
The November crude oil contract was down 15 cents at US$75.70 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$29.60 at US$2,668.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.47 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
‘Do the work’: Ottawa urges both sides in B.C. port dispute to restart talks
Man facing 1st-degree murder in partner’s killing had allegedly threatened her before
‘I get goosebumps’: Canadians across the country mark Remembrance Day
Surrey police transition deal still in works, less than three weeks before handover
From transmission to symptoms, what to know about avian flu after B.C. case
Bitcoin has topped $87,000 for a new record high. What to know about crypto’s post-election rally
Wisconsin Supreme Court grapples with whether state’s 175-year-old abortion ban is valid
Twin port shutdowns risk more damage to Canadian economy: business groups
