Our roundup of Canadian small-caps in the news today.
Our roundup of Canadian small-caps of between $100-million and $2.5-billion in market capitalization making news and on the move today.
A&W Revenue Royalties Income Fund (AW.UN-T) said it added new restaurants to its royalty pool.
The fund said 42 new restaurants were opened across Canada between Sept 9, 2016 and Sept. 7, 2017, less seven restaurants that were permanently closed during this period.
"The addition of these 35 net new restaurants brings the total number of A&W restaurants in the Royalty Pool to 896," the company stated.
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Starlight U.S. Multi-Family (No. 5) Core Fund (STUS.A-X) says it has acquired a multi-family property in Dallas, Texas.
"The acquisition improves the average vintage of the fund's apartment communities and is expected to be immediately accretive," the company stated.
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Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ-Q) said on Monday it received a letter from its chief executive Shawn Qu to take the company private.
The solar company said Qu, its largest shareholder, has offered to buy all of the outstanding shares he and his wife Hanbing Zhang do not already own for $18.47 per share.
The offer represents a 7.1-per-cent premium to Canadian Solar's Friday close. Qu and Zhang own about 23.5 per cent of the company's shares.
Canadian Solar's shares, which have risen nearly 42 per cent this year, were halted in premarket trading on Monday.
The company had a market cap of $1.07-billion, according to Reuters calculations.
--The Canadian Press
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Automotive Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (APR.UN-T) says it has an agreement to purchase the Mazda des Sources automotive dealership property in Montreal for about $8-million.
The REIT said the addition of the property is expected to be accretive to its adjusted funds from operations on a per unit basis.
"The addition of this newly constructed facility will further enhance the REIT's portfolio," said CEO Milton Lamb. "We continue to execute on opportunities to strengthen the REIT's major market and brand diversification. This represents our fourth property acquisition in the greater Montreal area, further expanding our presence in Canada's second largest urban market."
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Asanko Gold Inc. (AKG-T; AKG-N) says a class action securities lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York against the company and several executives has been dismissed.
"The lawsuit, claiming that the company made alleged misstatements or omissions in a technical report and a press release relating to the company's mineral resources estimates, was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice by lead plaintiff on Nov. 21, 2017," it stated. "No payment or any other consideration was paid by or on behalf of Asanko Gold or its executives in connection with the lawsuit's dismissal."
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Laurentian Bank of Canada (LB-T) issued a statement Monday morning to clarify the effect of a recent review of mortgages it had sold to a third party purchaser.
"Those issues resulted in the bank repurchasing some mortgages and enhancing its quality control functions and underwriting procedures, and may result in it being required to repurchase additional mortgages," the bank stated.
"Given recent reports in the media, the bank wants to clarify why it does not believe these matters are material to its business, capital, operations and funding."
Laurentian said the affected mortgages are performing in line with the bank's overall residential mortgage portfolio, "no employees were implicated in any misrepresentations, nor did the bank find any significant concentration of mortgages with misrepresentations with any single broker."
The bank said the estimated value of the mortgages that may be repurchased from the third-party purchaser constitutes approximately 1.6 per cent of its total residential mortgage portfolio and less than 1 per cent of its total loan portfolio.
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Chorus Aviation Inc. (CHR-T) says it will be added to the S&P/TSX Composite Index on Dec. 18.
"Our addition to the S&P/TSX Composite Index reflects the success of our growth and diversification strategy," stated CEO Joe Randell in a release. "We're transforming our organization with the objective of being a worldwide leader in providing regional aviation services. This milestone has the potential to broaden our investor base, increase trading liquidity and deliver additional value to our shareholders."
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Grande West Transportation Group Inc. (BUS-X) says it has a new order for approximately $6-million for 15 Vicinity buses to be delivered in 2018.
Grande West said it's the first public transit order in Quebec.
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Pure Technologies Ltd. (PUR-T) says it has an agreement to be bought by Xylem Inc. (XYL-T) for $9 per share in cash, a value that values the company at $509-million.
The purchase price is a 102.7-per-cent premium to Pure's closing price of $4.44 on Friday.
"The acquisition by Xylem is a highly positive outcome for our shareholders. The value being offered in this transaction is a recognition of the highly strategic and unique nature of Pure's business and technology," said executive chairman Jamie Paulson. "In Xylem, Pure has found the right partner to accelerate growth and to have a positive impact on the water management ecosystem."
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Probe Metals Inc. (PRB-X) says it has signed a purchase and sale agreement with GFG Resources Inc. (GFG-X) to sell its West Porcupine property in Ontario.
Probe said it has sold the property in exchange for the issuance of about $6.5-million common shares, representing a value of $3.5 million.
"We have been successful in finding value in one of our non-core properties, while continuing to advance the exploration and development of the company's flagship Val-d'Or East Project in Quebec," stated Probe CEO David Palmer.
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CanniMed Therapeutics Inc. (CMED-T) said it has started legal action against a hostile takeover bid from Aurora Cannabis Inc. (ACB-T).
CanniMed says it has applied to the Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority of Saskatchewan and the Ontario Securities Commission for orders that the bid is an "insider bid" based on Canadian securities laws.