An Aphria worker look out over a crop of marijuana in an undated handout image.Handout
Our roundup of Canadian small-caps of between $100-million and $2.5-billion in market capitalization making news and on the move today.
Walkie-talkie maker Motorola Solutions Inc said on Thursday it would buy Canadian security camera maker Avigilon Corp. (AVO-T) for $1.2-billion cash.
Motorola's offer of $27 per Avigilon share represents a premium of 18.3 per cent to Avigilon's Thursday closing price on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The acquisition would help expand Motorola's portfolio with new products for commercial customers, as more cameras feed into public safety workflows, Motorola CEO Greg Brown said.
Motorola also said it had sufficient resources, including cash and commercial credit facilities, to buy the Vancouver-based video surveillance and analytics company.
-Reuters
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StorageVault Canada Inc. (SVI-X) says it has acquired the remaining 50-per-cent interest in two Calgary stores for $17.2-million, using cash on hand.
StorageVault said it had already acquired an initial 50-per-cent interest in these stores as part of the Sentinel Storage acquisition that closed last summer.
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Rogers Sugar Inc. (RSI-T) reported first-quarter revenue of $204.9-million, an increase from $159.6-million for the same period last year. Analysts were expecting revenue of $212-million in the latest quarter ended Dec. 31.
Net earnings for the quarter came in at $20.2-million or 18 cents per share versus $13.6-million or 14 cents a year ago. Adjusted net earnings were 15 cents per share, versus expectations of 14 cents.
In its outlook, the company said it expects the industrial market segment to "decrease slightly, while the consumer volume should be comparable to fiscal 2017."
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Wasaya Group says its shareholders and Exchange Income Corp. (EIF-T) have an agreement to partner. According to a release, Exchange Income Corp. (EIC) will recapitalize Wasaya and the Wasaya shareholders will exchange a portion of their interests in Wasaya for shares of EIC.
"These transactions, together with anticipated growth capital, are expected to be approximately $25-million through a combination of debt and equity," the release states. "This partnership will enhance the level of service in Northern Ontario and benefit customers in their communities.
EIC has funded an initial investment in Wasaya with the remaining transactions expected to be completed within the first quarter.
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Pollard Banknote Ltd. (PBL-T) says it's buying International Gamco, Inc., a manufacturer of charitable gaming products including pull-tabs and electronic gaming systems and products, for $17.6-million (U.S.). The company said the purchase price was funded from existing cash resources and availability under its existing senior credit facilities.
"We are very excited about bringing the Gamco team into our organization and believe it will be a powerful combination with our existing charitable gaming division, American Games, and our recently acquired Diamond Game business", said co-CEO John Pollard in a release.
The company also says it will raise $33.2-million in a bought-deal financing. It has an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters led by Canaccord Genuity Corp. to buy 1.8 million common shares at $18.45 each.
The company said it expects to use the net proceeds from the offering to "repay indebtedness under the company's credit facility and repay in full the company's subordinated loan agreement with Pollard Equities Limited which was entered into in connection with the company's acquisition of Innova Gaming Group Inc.
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Gold Standard Ventures Corp. (GSV-T; GSV-N) says it's raising $20-million in a bought-deal financing and announced Goldcorp Inc. (G-T; GG-N) will increase its stake in the company through a non-brokered private placement.
Gold Standard says it has an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters co-led by Macquarie Capital Markets Canada Ltd. and BMO Capital Markets to buy 9.8 million common shares at $2.05 each.
Concurrent with the offering, the company said Goldcorp will complete a non-brokered private placement to increase its ownership to 9.99 per cent. It also said OceanaGold (OGC-T) has the right to either maintain its current ownership position of approximately 15.8 per cent or acquire up to a 19.9-per-cent ownership position in Gold Standard.
Gold Standard said the net proceeds of the public offering and the private placement will be used for "continued exploration and early-stage development" at its Railroad-Pinion Project and for working capital purposes.
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Liberty Health Sciences (LHS-CN) announced on Friday that it's buying Aphria Inc. (APH-T)'s stake in Arizona medical-cannabis producer Copperstate LLC for $20-million. Aphria Inc. is taking steps to pull back from the U.S. medical-marijuana market to comply with Toronto Stock Exchange rules.
"The sale of Copperstate is an important step in our continued efforts to work collaborately with the TSX and Canadian securities regulatory authorities regarding the divestiture of our direct investment in a U.S. cannabis business," stated Aphria CEO Vic Neufeld in a release "We are assessing solutions that meet the needs of Aphria while protecting shareholder interests and maintaining shareholder value."
Copperstate owns approximately 1.7 million square feet of greenhouses in Snowflake, Arizona of which approximately 348,000 square feet are in production of medical cannabis.
"This acquisition further demonstrates Liberty's commitment to expanding its leadership position in the U.S. medical cannabis industry" said Liberty CEO George Scorsis. "The Copperstate team has strong operational expertise and we look forward to a productive collaboration to enhance the experience of Arizona patients."
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Northwest Healthcare Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (NWH.UN-T) says it has entered into definitive agreements to acquire three German medical office properties and two German post-acute care hospitals and five hospitals in Australia and New Zealand for an aggregate purchase price of $314-million. It is also committing $182-million for planned hospital expansions.
It also announced the sale of three non-core assets totalling $200-million that will be completed or will close in the first quarter, and said it completed a new $476-million lending facility to refinance its Australia's portfolio debt, repay higher cost corporate debt, and fund on-going acquisition and development activity.
"Collectively, once complete, these activities will be immediately accretive as well as increase the REIT's exposure to high-quality international healthcare infrastructure assets," the company stated.
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Goldmoney Inc. (XAU-T) reported consolidated revenue of $150.4-million in the third quarter ended Dec. 31, an increase from $140.6-million a year earlier.
Net Income of $4.1-million or 5 cents compared to a net loss of $2.9-million or 4 cents last year.
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