Indigo Books & Music Inc. has agreed to be taken private after agreeing to a sweetened offer from a holding company connected to its largest shareholder.
The retailer says its agreement will see Trilogy Retail Holdings Inc. and Trilogy Investments L.P. pay $2.50 per share in cash for the stake in Indigo they do not already own.
The Trilogy companies, owned by Gerald Schwartz, the spouse of Indigo chief executive Heather Reisman, offered Indigo $2.25 per share in cash in February.
Indigo did not say what caused Trilogy to boost its offer but noted the new price reflects a 69 per cent premium on the share price of $1.48 that Indigo had when Trilogy first made its bid.
Indigo says an independent committee of its board of directors recently unanimously recommended the company accept Trilogy’s latest offer.
‘Challenging years for the business’
If shareholders agree to the deal during a May vote, Indigo expects the transaction to close in June and its shares to be delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange sometime after.
“We believe that this transaction will provide minority shareholders with a substantial premium for their shares following some challenging years for the business, while also ensuring a strong future for Indigo with full ownership by a team that has demonstrated a deep commitment to Indigo’s mission,” Indigo board chair Markus Dohle said in a statement.
WATCH | Indigo employees share concerns following data breach:
Indigo employees worried about identity theft after data breach
1 year ago
Duration 1:49
The personal information of current and former Indigo employees was stolen in a cyberattack. There is no evidence the data has been released, despite claims it has, but experts say the risk is not gone.
The last two years have seen Indigo encounter a ransomware attack that downed its website for a lengthy period and the departure of several board members, including one who said she experienced a “loss of confidence in board leadership.”
Amid these challenges, Indigo’s founder, Reisman, returned to the company’s helm after retiring in the summer of 2023.
Indigo announced layoffs earlier this year as part of ongoing efforts to streamline its operations.
The company said at the time that the cuts were part of its strategic plan, and were meant to return the business to profitability.
Through the Trilogy firms, Schwartz is the controlling shareholder of Indigo. He owns around 56 per cent of the company’s issued and outstanding common shares, while another 4.6 per cent belong to Reisman through a different holding company.
Trilogy has said it’s not interested in selling any of its shares.
TORONTO – Cineplex Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year ago as it was hit by a fine for deceptive marketing practices imposed by the Competition Tribunal.
The movie theatre company says it lost $24.7 million or 39 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $29.7 million or 40 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
The results in the most recent quarter included a $39.2-million provision related to the Competition Tribunal decision, which Cineplex is appealing.
The Competition Bureau accused the company of misleading theatregoers by not immediately presenting them with the full price of a movie ticket when they purchased seats online, a view the company has rejected.
Revenue for the quarter totalled $395.6 million, down from $414.5 million in the same quarter last year, while theatre attendance totalled 13.3 million for the quarter compared with nearly 15.7 million a year earlier.
Box office revenue per patron in the quarter climbed to $13.19 compared with $12 in the same quarter last year, while concession revenue per patron amounted to $9.85, up from $8.44 a year ago.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
TORONTO – Restaurant Brands International Inc. reported net income of US$357 million for its third quarter, down from US$364 million in the same quarter last year.
The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says its profit amounted to 79 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with 79 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue for the parent company of Tim Hortons, Burger King, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs, totalled US$2.29 billion, up from US$1.84 billion in the same quarter last year.
Consolidated comparable sales were up 0.3 per cent.
On an adjusted basis, Restaurant Brands says it earned 93 cents US per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 90 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents US per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Fortis Inc. reported a third-quarter profit of $420 million, up from $394 million in the same quarter last year.
The electric and gas utility says the profit amounted to 85 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 81 cents per share a year earlier.
Fortis says the increase was driven by rate base growth across its utilities, and strong earnings in Arizona largely reflecting new customer rates at Tucson Electric Power.
Revenue in the quarter totalled $2.77 billion, up from $2.72 billion in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Fortis says it earned 85 cents per share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 84 cents per share in the third quarter of 2023.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 82 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
