A credit card is seen in this file photo.
DEAL OF THE DAY: CPI Card Group's IPO an easy sell for bankers
Credit card maker CPI Card Group Inc. did not have any trouble getting investors jazzed up about its initial public offering. The Colorado-based company, majority owned by Canadian private equity firm Tricor Pacific Capital Inc., was initially looking to raise $100-million (U.S.) when it filed paperwork with regulators in August. In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Tuesday, Tricor says it could now raise as much as $365-million. CPI plans to list on the Toronto Stock Exchange and on the Nasdaq at between $16 (U.S.) and $18 a share. Full story
INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERINGS
Imax China, investors seek Hong Kong IPO
Imax Corp.'s Chinese business and the unit's existing owners are seeking to raise as much as $276-million (U.S.) in a Hong Kong IPO as the use of large-screen cinema technology expands in the world's second-largest economy. Full story
Liberals deserve praise for Hydro One IPO ... but don't write about it
My colleague Tim Kiladze argued why the Ontario Liberals deserve praise for the handling of the Hydro One IPO. The piece generated some heated responses from readers in the comments section.
Here's a sampling:
"There is absolutely nothing that the Liberals have done with the electrical utility portfolio in this province that would warrant anything that resembles praise!"
"Wynne is burning the furniture to heat the house."
"Selling out Ontario to pay for your sins." Full story
MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
The numbers behind the Fort Hills deal
Suncor Energy Inc.'s deal for 10 per cent of Total SA's stake in the massive Fort Hills bitumen project shows that plunging oil prices have dramatically crimped asset values in northern Alberta. Full story
FactSet Research agrees to buy Portware
FactSet Research Systems Inc., a provider of data and analytical software to investment managers and banks, agreed to buy Portware LLC for $265-million (U.S.) in cash. Full story
Business Insider on verge of being sold
"German publisher Axel Springer is close to buying news site Business Insider in a deal that would value the acquired company at $560-million (U.S.)," says Fortune magazine, which references a report by Re/Code. Business Insider, founded by former Wall Street analyst Henry Blodget, is one of the best-known brands in business journalism. The site is heavy in click-bait headlines and a hodgepodge of brief, graphic-laden posts that often feature jokey pictures of subjects.
Check out this gem from Tuesday:
According to Re/Code, Business Insider brought in about $20-million in revenue in 2013 and grew 70 per cent last year. Full story
INSIGHT & ANALYSIS
First Capital Realty shakes things up
It is easy to chalk up First Capital Realty's corporate restructuring to a new chief executive officer putting his mark on the company. Adam Paul swears it isn't so. Full story
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
'The Big Short' trailer: Wall Street has never looked this good looking
Everyone loves Michael Lewis, right? He has penned some of the best-known and widely loved business journalism of the past 10 years. His Vanity Fair series on the European debt crisis was epic (apart from that piece on Germany which was just plain weird in places).
One of Mr. Lewis's most acclaimed works is the book, The Big Short, about Michael Burry, a man with Asperger's who figured out that many of the big U.S. investment banks were sitting on garbage investments (subprime mortgage bonds) ahead of the 2008 financial crisis. Mr. Burry then brilliantly figured out a way to get those same bankers to create a product – credit default swaps on the garbage subprime mortgage bonds – through which he could essentially take a short position.
"Credit default swaps remedied the problem of open-ended risk for me," Mr. Burry said in a Vanity Fair article, which excerpted The Big Short.
"If I bought a credit default swap, my downside was defined and certain, and the upside was many multiples of it."
The article and book were big hits and Hollywood optioned the movie – the trailer for which was released Tuesday. Based on what I've seen, the flick looks half decent. The Big Short attracted an all-star cast of Hollywood hunks with Welshman Christian Bale in the starring role as Mr. Burry. Brad Pitt and Ryan Gosling are also in the cast.
Got any Bay Street buzz? If you have any story suggestions for the Daily Deal Roundup, e-mail us at deals@globeandmail.com or nmcgee@globeandmail.com Follow Niall McGee on Twitter: @niallcmcgee
Niall McGee