Vic Neufeld CEO, left, Cole Cacciavillani, centre, and John Cervini co-chairs of Aphria, stand in front of some of their Medical Marihuana plants at the company's greenhouse in Leamington, Ontario, May 26, 2014.The Globe and Mail
Our roundup of Canadian small-caps of between $100-million and $2.5-billion in market capitalization making news and on the move today.
Aphria Inc. (APH-T) launched its U.S. expansion strategy through an investment in an entity to be renamed Liberty Health Sciences Inc. that will operate in the United States under the brand Aphria USA.
"While the initial investment relates to the State of Florida, the intention of the U.S. expansion strategy is to target key states that have approved medical use of marijuana and meet the company's stringent investment criteria," the company said.
Aphria said it will invest $25-million into DFMMJ Investment Ltd., a new special purpose private company.
It will also raise $35-million in a brokered private placement.
As part of the transaction, Aphria has agreed to licence its medical brand to Liberty in exchange for a perpetual 3 per cent royalty on all sales of marijuana and related products.
"Aphria's success story is no longer limited to Canada," said CEO Vic Neufeld. "We will continue to examine other U.S. opportunities and strive to introduce new states to Liberty's business model."
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Horizons ETFs Management is launching the Horizons Medical Marijuana Life Sciences ETF (HMMJ-T) today on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
"HMMJ is the first ETF in the world that offers direct exposure to North American-listed stocks that are involved with medical marijuana bioengineering and production," Horizons said.
"Canada is the birthplace of ETFs and has been home to many firsts in the industry. The Horizons Medical Marijuana Life Sciences ETF is another made-in-Canada ETF milestone, the world's first marijuana ETF," said Steve Hawkins, president and co-CEO of Horizons ETFs. "At Horizons, we take pride in our innovation, so we're very happy that for the first time, investors will be able to access a low-cost, diversified portfolio of companies that are directly involved in the rapidly growing medical marijuana industry."
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Hudson's Bay Co. (HBC-T) suffered a loss of $152-million in its crucial fourth-quarter holiday season, as the department-store retailer took a $116-million writedown tied to its struggling Saks OFF 5th and Gilt.com discounters and moved to revamp operations.
The results came amid disappointing results for North American department-store merchants generally and tougher times for Toronto-based HBC particularly as it digests a series of acquisitions over the past few years, including Saks Inc. and Gilt.com, and rushes to adapt to the rising popularity of e-commerce.
"The past year was a disruptive one for the retail industry," Jerry Storch, chief executive officer of HBC, said in releasing its fourth-quarter results late Tuesday. "While the department store sector remains challenging, we are taking decisive action and making the tough decisions to ensure continued performance should the current environment persist."
The company said it is cutting costs and capital spending, strengthening its balance sheet and overhauling its off-price discount retailers Saks OFF 5th and Gilt.com.
In its fourth quarter, HBC reported a loss of $152-million or 83 cents a share, compared with a profit of $370-million or $2.03 a share a year earlier. Sales rose to $4.6-billion from $4.49-billion.
Analysts were expecting a loss of 66 cents per share and revenues of $3.4-billion.
--Marina Strauss
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Great Panther Silver Ltd. (GPR-T; GPL-N) says its president and CEO Robert Archer will be stepping down this year.
He will work with the board of directors to find his successor.
"Mr. Archer co-founded Great Panther Silver in 2004 and has led the company's successful growth into a respected primary silver producer," the company said in a release.
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Aralez Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ARLZ-Q; ARZ-T) is cutting costs "with the immediate aim of providing additional financial flexibility while maximizing the value of its assets."
The plan includes a 32-per-cent reduction in the U.S. sales force and "realignment of certain financial resources" to support the launch of its Zontivity product in mid-April. It will also decrease its marketing spend on its Yosprala products.
"We are committed to proactively addressing the current challenges of our business, while maximizing the potential value of our commercial portfolio, with a growing emphasis on Zontivity," said CEO Adrian Adams.
The sales force reduction is expected to reduce annual operating expenses by $7.5-million.
The company expects to have cash severance costs of approximately $600,000 in the second quarter.
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Endo International plc (ENDP-Q) says it's seeking to refinance its existing credit facilities with new senior secured credit facilities consisting of a revolving credit facility and a term loan facility.
Endo said it plans to use the net proceeds of the to repay all outstanding loans and other obligations under its existing credit facilities and for general corporate purposes.
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Great Canadian Gaming Corp. (GC-T) has terminated chief financial officer Andreas Thompson ahead of the probationary period..
The company has appointed Radek Kielar as interim vice president of finance until a new CFO is named.
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Ag Growth International Inc. (AFN-T) is raising $75-million in a public offering of convertible unsecured subordinate debentures.
It has an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters to buy the debentures at a price of $1,000 each.
The net proceeds will be used to repay debt and for general corporate purposes, the company said.
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K-Bro Linen Inc. (KBL-T) is raising $50-million in a bought-deal financing.
It has an agreement to sell 1.3 million common shares at $38 each to a syndicate of underwriters led by TD Securities Inc.
The net proceeds will be used to fund the build out of facilities in Toronto and Vancouver and to pay down debt.
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