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A roundup of some of the North American equities making moves in both directions today

On the rise

Shares of Hudson’s Bay Co. (HBC-T) rose 6.1 per cent after a group led by executive chairman Richard Baker raised its takeover offer for the department store chain by $100-million on Monday and won approval for the bid from members of the company’s board of directors.

Now the 53-year-old real estate executive and his backers need to convince the majority of HBC’s remaining shareholders to take their cash, rather than continuing to own a stake in a 350-year-old retailer. HBC runs more than 300 stores under the Saks Fifth Avenue, Hudson’s Bay, and Saks OFF 5TH banners.

- Andrew Willis

See also: How Richard Baker plans to transform Hudson’s Bay

Knight Therapeutics Inc. (GUD-T) closed 13.9 per cent higher after it announced the acquisition of a 51.2-per-cent interest in Biotoscana Investments S.A. from a controlling shareholder group that includes Advent International and Essex Woodlands, for $189-million.

Following the completion of the transaction, Knight said it will launch a mandatory tender offer to acquire the remaining 48.8-per-cent interest from public shareholders on similar terms, for expected cash consideration of about $180 million.

“This transformational acquisition establishes Knight as a premiere pan-American (ex-US) specialty pharmaceutical company. With scale and a strong regional infrastructure, we will be well-positioned as the pan-American (ex-US) in-licensing partner of choice,” CEO Jonathan Ross Goodman said in a release. “The combination of Knight and GBT creates a compelling platform in large, fast-growing markets. GBT is a natural strategic fit, with a similar business model to Knight and strong relationships with global partners.”

Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. (CF-T) was up 1.3 per cent after paying $23-million to acquire Australia’s Patersons Securities Ltd. in a deal that is scheduled to close on Tuesday.

The Toronto-based brokerage house, which has $68-billion in client assets under management, is buying the Perth-based firm with 100 investment advisers and $13-billion in its care. Canaccord already has an investment-banking unit in Australia with 72 employees, but the Patersons purchase marks its first major foray into wealth management Down Under.

- Andrew Willis

New York-based cosmetics maker Coty Inc. (COTY-N) jumped 13.2 per cent after it said Monday it was exploring strategic options for its professional beauty business that houses brands such as Wella and OPI as it restructures to focus on its fragrance, cosmetics and skin care businesses.

The company said it was also exploring options for its Brazilian operations and would use the proceeds from any potential transaction to pay down debt and return excess cash to shareholders.

In July, Coty laid out a four-year restructuring plan that involves reducing organizational layers and reorganize the operation into regional units with new business heads.

Oilfield services provider Halliburton Co. (HAL-N) rose 6.4 per cent per cent after it reported a bigger-than-expected 10-per-cent drop in quarterly revenue on Monday, as the oilfield services provider battled lower demand from shale oil producers in North America, its biggest market.

Revenue from North America, which accounts for more than half of the company’s total, fell 21 per cent in the third quarter, primarily due to lower pressure pumping activity and pricing.

Halliburton, the largest provider of hydraulic fracking fleets, said completion and production revenue fell 16 per cent in the three months ended Sept. 30.

Larger rival Schlumberger said on Friday it had recorded a US$1.58-billion goodwill impairment charge related to its pressure pumping business in North America.

AltaCorp Capital analyst Waqar Syed said: “We deem HAL’s returns to be neutral to negative. We like the Company’s FCF generation and margin improvement. However, the Company did miss its margin improvement guidance in D&E. Moreover, its revenue growth was well below what was reported by peer SLB.”

On the decline

Boeing Co. (BA-N) dropped 3.8 per cent after the airline said on Sunday that it regrets and understands concerns raised by the release of a former Boeing test pilot’s internal instant messages noting erratic software behaviour two years before deadly crashes of its 737 Max jet.

On Monday, Credit Suisse and UBS downgraded the stock.

The new revelations pose fresh challenges for Boeing, which is reeling under pressure after two fatal crashes forced the company to ground the planes and book billions of dollars in losses.

Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX-T) fell 2.6 per cent after it said on Sunday it had reached a deal to settle a long-running tax dispute between Tanzania and mining group Acacia, which Barrick bought in a US$1.2-billion transaction approved by a British court last month.

The tax deal includes the payment of US$300-million to settle outstanding tax and other disputes, the lifting of a concentrate export ban and the sharing of future economic benefits from mines on a 50-50 basis, Barrick said in a statement.

“Barrick is definitely back in Tanzania,” Barrick president and chief executive Mark Bristow told reporters in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s commercial capital.

Lightspeed POS Inc. (LSPD-T) lost 0.4 per cent after announcing the US$35.3-million acquisition of Australia-based Kounta Holdings Pty. Ltd., a cloud-based POS (point of sale) solutions provider to small- and medium-sized businesses operating within the hospitality industry.

“Combining with Kounta will strengthen Lightspeed’s resources to provide even greater customer experiences as it expands into the Asia-Pacific region, while tapping the talent and expertise needed to accelerate Lightspeed’s mission of becoming the leading global POS platform for small and medium-sized businesses, the backbone of vibrant cities and communities throughout the world,” the company said.

With files from Terry Weber, staff and wires

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Tickers mentioned in this story

Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 28/03/24 4:00pm EDT.

SymbolName% changeLast
COTY-N
Coty Inc
+1.18%11.96
BA-N
Boeing Company
+0.54%192.99
ABX-T
Barrick Gold Corp
+2.46%22.53
HAL-N
Halliburton Company
+1.52%39.42
LSPD-T
Lightspeed Commerce Inc.
+0.53%19.05
GUD-T
Knight Therapeutics Inc
-2.57%5.3
CF-T
Canaccord Genuity Group Inc
+1.71%8.9

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