A roundup of some of the North American equities making moves in both directions today
On the rise
Shares of Hudsons Bay Co. (HBC-T) were up over 9.5 per cent after executive chairman Richard Baker agreed to boost his bid for the iconic retailer, winning the backing of dissenting shareholder Catalyst Capital Group. and likely ensuring the company will go private later this year.
The new offer of $11 per share in cash tops the previous, purportedly “best and final” offer of $10.30. In a late-night announcement Friday, Catalyst Capital Group Inc. said it will vote in favour of the new deal.
Hudson’s Bay shares closed at $9.88 a share Friday on the Toronto Stock Exchange, before the Catalyst agreement with Hudson’s Bay was announced.
– David Milstead and Jeffrey Jones
Roots Corp. (ROOT-T) rose 0.5 per cent after announcing late Friday chief executive Jim Gabel has left the company effective immediately, as the board of directors expressed a need for “renewed leadership.”
The company’s board of directors has appointed Meghan Roach as the retailer’s temporary chief executive. Ms. Roach has served as interim chief financial officer for the company since August and is a previous board member for the retailer.
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY-Q) was up 3 per cent after announcing it’s set to sell almost half of its real estate to an affiliate of Oak Street Real Estate Capital in a deal expected to generate US$250-million in net proceeds.
“We are pleased to complete this sale-leaseback transaction,” said president and CEO Mark Tritton. “This marks the first step toward unlocking valuable capital in our business that can be put to work to amplify our plans to build a stronger, more efficient foundation to support revenue growth, financial stability and enhance shareholder value.”
Shares of Boeing Co. (BA-N) increased 0.3 per cent after a Wall Street Journal report that it considering plans to raise more debt to bolster its finances after the grounding of its 737 MAX jet.
The company is also thinking of deferring some capital expenditures, freezing acquisitions and cutting spending on research and development to preserve cash, according to the report.
Air Canada, WestJet push back return of Boeing 737 Max until early spring
Apple Inc. (AAPL-Q) shares rose 0.8 per cent despite brokerage Needham cutting its rating to “buy” from “strong buy” in the wake of its strong performance in 2019.
Analyst Laura Martin did, however, match the Street-high target price for the stock.
On the decline
First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM-T) declined 0.2 per cent in the wake of announcing Monday it had adopted a shareholder rights plan, nearly a month after China’s Jiangxi Copper Co Ltd agreed to pay $1.1 billion to become the miner’s largest shareholder.
The rights plan, which comes into force immediately, will ensure that all shareholders are treated fairly in connection with any takeover bid, First Quantum said.
State-backed Jiangxi Copper said in a regulatory filing last month that it would buy Cupric Holdings Ltd from Pangaea Investment Management Ltd. Cupric held around 18% of First Quantum’s issued share capital as of Dec. 9.
First Quantum’s rights plan is subject to ratification by shareholders within six months of its adoption.
Ford Motor Co. (F-N) lost 0.7 per cent after it reported a 1.3-per-cent fall in sales for the fourth quarter in the United States, hurt by declining sales of passenger cars.
The No. 2 U.S. automaker said it sold 601,862 vehicles in the quarter, compared with 609,693 a year earlier
Cal-Main Foods Inc. (CALM-Q) fell 7.8 per cent after its second-quarter 2020 results fell well short of expectations on the Street.
“We continued to experience challenging market conditions for the second quarter of fiscal 2020,” said CEO Dolph Baker. “While our sales volumes remained relatively flat in the second quarter compared to last year, our financial results reflect lower average selling prices compared with the same period of fiscal 2019.
Xerox Holdings Corp. (XRX-N) slipped 1.5 per cent after it said on Monday it has secured US$24-billion in financing for its US$33.5-billion takeover offer for HP Inc. (HPQ-N), a deal that the personal computer maker is opposing.
HP rejected the US$22 per share offer in November saying it “significantly” undervalued the company, following which the printer maker took the offer directly to HP’s shareholders.
Xerox has engaged in “constructive dialog” with many of HP’s largest shareholders, the company’s chief executive officer, John Visentin, said in a letter addressed to HP’s board on Monday.
“My offer stands to meet with you in person, with or without your advisors, to begin negotiating this transaction,” Visentin said.
Shares of HP were up 0.4 per cent.
Harvest Health & Recreation Inc. (HARV-C) slid 5.3 per cent after it announced that it’s negotiating to acquire Interurban Capital Group, Inc., the owner and operator of Have a Heart CC, which has 11 operating dispensaries in California, Washington and Iowa and licenses for seven retail locations in California.
“Preliminary terms contemplate an acquisition price of approximately $87.5-million in Harvest stock and assumption of debt convertible into 205,594 multiple voting shares of Harvest stock, subject to applicable Canadian securities laws,” the company stated.
New York-listed shares of Chinese electric carmaker Nio Inc. (NIO-N) slid 3.7 per cent after reporting higher deliveries in December, compared with the previous month.
Nio said it delivered 3,170 vehicles in December, representing a jump of 25.4 per cent from November.
With files from Brenda Bouw, staff and wires
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