Stars Group (STAR)
Betting on sports can be costly, as anyone who picked the Leafs to beat the Bruins can attest. But here’s a bet that paid off nicely this week: owning shares of Stars Group. Seeking to expand its presence in sports gambling, the online poker giant agreed to buy Britain’s Sky Betting & Gaming for about US$4.7-billion – a deal that would create the biggest publicly listed online gambling company. Stars shareholders shoot, they score!
TSGI - TSX, $39.74, up $2.38 or 6.37% over week.
Restaurant Brands International (DOG)
Business quiz! Shares of Restaurant Brands rose after: a) The owner of Tim Hortons launched a new vegan restaurant, Tims Tofu; b) RBI and a group of unhappy Tims franchisees agreed to appear on Dr. Phil to resolve their differences; c) Even as first-quarter same-store sales slipped 0.3 per cent at Tims, they rose more than 3 per cent at both Burger King and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, helping RBI beat earnings expectations. Answer: c. Unfortunately, the stock’s gains didn’t last.
QSR - TSX, $70.09, down $3.23 or 4.41% over week.
Mitel Networks (STAR)
Having a reliable business telephone system is critical - because you never know when someone might call to offer billions of dollars for your company. Shares of Mitel Networks jumped after the Ottawa-based provider of business telecommunications systems agreed to be acquired by a group led by Searchlight Capital Partners for US$11.50 (about $14.75) a share, or US$2-billion including Mitel’s debt. Nothing phone-y going on here.
MNW - TSX, $14.33, up $1.48 or 11.52% over week.
Facebook (STAR)
The data privacy scandal swirling around Facebook is starting to hurt its business - like, not at all. Fresh from CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s dressing-down by Congress, the social-networking giant reported first-quarter results that crushed estimates, as earnings soared 63 per cent to US$4.99-billion and revenue leaped 49 per cent to US$11.97 billion. Investors are liking the results and sharing them with all their Facebook friends.
FB - Nasdaq, US$173.59, up US$7.31 or 4.4% over week.
Akorn (DOG)
This is one Akorn that fell far from the tree. The shares plummeted after German health-care group Fresenius SE pulled the plug on its US$4.3-billion merger agreement with Akorn, alleging that the U.S. generic drug company made false statements in reporting drug development data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Akorn said that’s totally nuts and is suing Fresenius to make good on the deal.
AKRX - Nasdaq, US$13.50, down US$6.10 or 30.96% over week.
John Heinzl