A crucible once used to carry molten steel is seen outside the Essar Steel Algoma plant November 13, 2015 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.Kenneth Armstrong/The Globe and Mail
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Essar Algoma accepts joint bid in sale of steel maker
Essar Steel Algoma Inc. has accepted a joint bid by New York private equity firm KPS Capital Partners LP and the term lenders of the company as the best offer in the steel maker's sales process.
The deal requires agreements on a new labour contract between the proposed buyers and Essar Algoma's unions in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. and the approval of the Ontario government. It could also face opposition from other groups of Essar Algoma lenders.
If the bid by the lenders and KPS is successful, it sets up the potential of a single entity taking over Essar Algoma and U.S. Steel Canada Inc., because KPS is one of three bidders remaining in the running to buy the former unit of United States Steel Corp. Sources said KPS, another equity fund called Bedrock Industries and in a bizarre twist, Essar Algoma's parent, the Essar Group, are the three bidders still in the hunt for U.S. Steel Canada. FULL STORY
Chevron seeks buyers for B.C. refinery
Chevron Corp. is gauging interest among would-be buyers for its British Columbia refinery, a plant that supplies about a quarter of the province's fuel, as the company copes with the oil-industry downturn.
The California-based oil major has begun the process of inviting bids after it received indications of interest in the Burnaby plant, which it has operated in the Lower Mainland location since the 1930s.
"We are open to changing market conditions, and this expression-of-interest process allows us to test the broader market value of these assets," Chevron Canada spokesman Adrien Byrne said in an interview. "It's very early in the process. As we go through this process, potential bidders will have access to a data room."
The company's service station and commercial cardlock business would be part of any deal, Mr. Byrne said. There is no timeline set to complete a sale, he said.
It is not known what such a plant, considered small by world standards at 55,000 barrels a day, would fetch in sale proceeds. FULL STORY
Dear Bay Street, stop treating millennials like some sort of 'other'
In the highest echelons of finance, accounting, law and consulting, the same perplexing question keeps cropping up: What to do about those damn millennials?
Executives and managers are baffled. It used to be that working on Bay Street or Wall Street – or in office towers in cities such as Calgary and Houston – was the hip thing to do. New graduates are increasingly questioning why they should slug it out travelling four days a week or staying at the office until midnight when they can sell an emoji app for $100-million. (Google "Bitstrips" if you'd like to feel bad about yourself.)
To help the old-timers, Goldman Sachs has offered a course called "Managing Millennials." A few months back, The Wall Street Journal reported that one of the common complaints voiced during the popular gathering is a frustration that young people like to wear headphones or earbuds while they work. The horror.
The very existence of such seminars suggests that twenty- and early-thirtysomethings are some special species. Treating millennials this way, like some sort of "other," won't do the trick. I know, because I'm one of them. FULL STORY
Jefferies beefs up investment banking in Canada
Jefferies Securities Inc. is wading further into the Canadian capital markets pool.
The Canadian outpost of the mid-sized U.S. boutique investment bank has won regulatory approval to lead initial public offerings (IPOs) for Canadian companies and participate in secondary stock issues.
The firm was recently granted a licence to underwrite by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC).
While the IPO market has been moribund for the best part of a year, the secondary financing environment has been robust. Secondaries are up 20 per cent year-to-date to $26-billion, according to Bloomberg data, with a handful of billion dollar-plus offerings hitting the market. Fees on such issues typically range from 4 to 5 per cent, meaning tens of millions of dollars are up for grabs.
"Canada is an important market for us," Steven Latimer, Canadian head of investment banking with Jefferies Securities, wrote in an e-mail to The Globe and Mail.
"Coupled with our existing high yield, lending and M&A [mergers and acquisitions] capabilities for Canadian clients, Jefferies is now positioned to deliver the full range of capital markets and advisory solutions." FULL STORY
Appetite for new IPOs notably dim for 2016Acquisitions and financings abound in Canada's hot market for deals – but don't expect them to light fireworks in the dark initial public offering space.
Sizable share sales have propelled Canadian underwriters through 2016, yet IPOs have been notably silent. That's starting to change as the first IPOs of the year begin to take off, but the appetite for additional deals remains muted.
Multiple times in 2016, Canadian investors have shown their willingness to support major transactions – such as Suncor Energy Inc.'s $2.5-billion share issue, which was oversubscribed – but that momentum has delivered only a small kick to new listings on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The first companies of the year are only just beginning to make their TSX debuts. That mirrors similarly lacklustre conditions in the U.S. markets, where the backdrop of unsteady global economic conditions and a pullback in high-flying startup valuations have put a damper on activity. FULL STORY