A shopper leaves a Lord & Taylor store in New York.ADAM ROUNTREE
Our roundup of Canadian small-caps of between $100-million and $2.5-billion in market capitalization making news and on the move today.
Hudson's Bay Co. (HBC-T) has a $1-billion deal to sell its Lord & Taylor flagship store in New York to WeWork Cos and team up with the office-sharing business to run its operations in parts of HBC's stores.
Toronto-based HBC, which is under pressure from an activist shareholder to monetize its real estate, said Tuesday Rhone Capital, an investor in WeWork, is making a $632-million equity investment in HBC, which also owns its namesake stores and Saks Fifth Avenue.
The retailer expects to continue to run the Lord & Taylor store on Fifth Avenue in a shrunken space in that building after WeWork converts it into its New York headquarters as well as shared office space to lease to other businesses or individuals.
WeWork will also lease space for its own office-sharing operations in HBC's flagship stores on Queen Street in downtown Toronto, Granville Street in Vancouver and Galeria Kaufhof in Frankfurt, Germany as a way to use the big stores' space more productively. HBC said it expects "minimal impact" on its bottom line from the revamping.
"HBC and WeWork have been working together to reimagine retail environments for current and future generations," Richard Baker, HBC's executive chairman, said in a statement. "This is a transformative partnership that rethinks how retailers create exciting environments and leverage less productive space while substantially improving the value proposition."
--Marina Strauss
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Equitable Group Inc. (EQB-T) says it has redeemed $65-million of outstanding debentures due Oct. 24, 2022 as planned and with the approval of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions.
"The redemption reduces interest expense by approximately $2-million per year beginning in 2018 and results in an approximate 90-basis-point reduction in the total capital ratio of Equitable Bank (the wholly owned subsidiary of Equitable) based on the Bank's September 30, 2017 capital position," the company stated.
"The redemption serves to lower our expenses and is in line with our longstanding capital plan," said chief financial officer Tim Wilson. "The bank continues to operate with high capital ratios and believes that it has sufficient capital to fund its growth plans."
Equitable Group also said the bank has applied to the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions seeking approval "for letters patent incorporating a new trust subsidiary."
"This initiative would further the company's ability to pursue its asset diversification strategy and would create a new issuer of deposits that are eligible for insurance through the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation," it stated.
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Firm Capital Mortgage Investment Corp., (FC-T) announced an at-the-market equity program of up to $30-million.
It plans to use the net proceeds to repay debt under a revolving credit facility, fund new investments and for general corporate purposes.
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Cardinal Resources Limited (CDV-T) says it's raising $12-million in a bought-deal financing.
It has an agreement with Clarus Securities Inc., on behalf of a syndicate of underwriters, to buy 18.5 million shares at 65 cents each.
The company said it intends to use the net proceeds to continue exploration and development at its Namdini Gold Project and its other Ghanaian properties, and for general working capital purposes.
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Liberty Health Sciences Inc. (LHS-CN) announced a partnership with Colorado-based MM Technology Holdings, LLC to bring its line of Mary's Medicinals cannabis products to the Florida market.
Under the three-year agreement, Liberty will produce and distribute a suite of products from Mary's under license in the State of Florida.
"Our goal is to provide the best available medical cannabis products to our patients and Mary's has a proven track record of success in the space," said George Scorsis, CEO of Liberty.
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Avigilon Corp. (AVO-T) appointed James Henderson as president and chief operating officer as part of its executive succession plan.
Mr. Henderson will work with founder, CEO and chairman Alexander Fernandes, who will continue to serve in his current capacity until Mr. Henderson's expected promotion to CEO in 2018, "at which point Mr. Fernandes is expected to remain as Avigilon's chairman of the board," the company said.
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