Friday's small-cap stocks to watch

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Our roundup of Canadian small-caps of between $100-million and $2.5-billion in market capitalization making news and on the move today.

Fortis Inc. (FTS-T; FTS-N) is selling 4.7 million trust units of Slate Office REIT (SOT.UN-T), or about 10.3 per cent of the REIT's outstanding trust units, for $36.8-million.

Fortis said the deal was done in a secondary sale on a "bought block trade" basis at a sale price of $7.78 per trust unit. The units closed at $8.02 on the TSX on Thursday.

"The trust units are being sold by Fortis to support its general financing requirements and its objective to invest in the core utility business of Fortis," the company said  in a release.

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Paramount Resources Ltd.

(POU-T) says it will redeem all of its outstanding 7.625 per cent senior unsecured notes due 2019, totalling $286.6-million on Dec. 19.

"The redemption price will be 102.5 per cent of the principal amount of the 2019 Notes redeemed," the

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Andrew Peller Ltd. (ADW.A-T; ADW.B-T) says Randy Powell, a veteran in the consumer packaged goods and hospitality sectors, has been appointed president of the company effective Nov. 28, 2016.

Mr. Powell resigned from the company's board. John Peller will be the new board chair and keep his CEO role.

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Spartan Energy Corp. (SPE-T) is buying "strategic assets" from ARC Resources Ltd. (ARX-T) in southeast Saskatchewan for $700-million.

It said the assets include "high quality, low decline, operated production and a large land base which is highly complementary to Spartan's existing operations in southeast Saskatchewan."

Spartan said the acquisition will make it one of the largest oil producers in Saskatchewan.

It will be funded through Spartan's credit facility and through committed concurrent equity financings totalling $505-million.

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Cott Corp. (COT-N; BCB-T) says its North America business has a letter of intent with an unnamed national brand customer for production within its U.S. based hot-fill plants. 

"Cott has already begun initial production and the letter of intent reflects volume progressively increasing over the coming months to 7.5 million actual cases per year by the second quarter of 2017," the company said in a release.

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Medicure Inc. (MPH-X) says it has exercised its option to acquire a majority interest in private companies Apicore Inc. and Apigen Investments Ltd.

It said the options bring ownership in Apicore to 64 per cent, or approximately 60 per cent on a fully diluted basis.

"Medicure is pleased to be acquiring a majority equity position in Apicore and looks forward to working to further increase Apicore's value for all stakeholders, in particular Medicure's shareholders." stated CEO Albert Friesen.

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Osisko Mining Inc. (OSK-T) has announced a private placement of up to $10-million of flow-through shares.

Proceeds of the offering will be used to fund exploration expenses.

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Ivanhoe Mines (IVN-T) and its joint-venture partner, Zijin Mining Group Co., Ltd., have signed an agreement that "confirms the support and desire of the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to be a prominent partner in the development of the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Project."

The agreement transfers an additional 15-per-cent interest in the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Project to the DRC government, increasing its total stake in the project to 20 per cent.

As a result of the transaction, Ivanhoe Mines and Zijin each hold an indirect 39.6-per-cent interest in the project, while Crystal River Global Ltd holds the remaining 0.8 per cent.

"This is a historically significant event for the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo," stated Ivanhoe Mines executive chairman Robert Friedland.

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Dominion Diamond Corp. (DDC-T; DDC-N) reported third-quarter sales of $102.7-million (U.S).
That compares to sales of $145-million a year earlier. 
It said total carats sold in the most recent quarter increased by 56 per cent and rough diamond sales decreased 29 per cent versus the prior year "primarily as a result of both the process plant fire at the Ekati Diamond Mine, which resulted in a reduction in the value of goods available for sale in the quarter."

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