Market movers: Stocks that saw action on Monday - and why

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

On the rise

TC PipeLines LP (TCP-N) gained after it said on Monday top shareholder TC Energy Corp. (TRP-T) offered to buy the rest of the natural gas pipelines operator in a deal that valued the company at about US$1.48-billion.

Keystone pipeline operator TC Energy owns a 23.96-per-cent stake in TC PipeLines, according to Refinitiv data.

TC PipeLines common shareholders will receive 0.650 common shares of TC Energy, representing a value of US$27.31 per share, a premium of 5.4-per-cent to TC PipeLines' Friday close.

As the general partner of TC PipeLines is an indirect subsidiary of TC Energy, a committee consisting of independent directors will be formed to review the offer, the company said.

See also: TC Energy layoffs add to oil patch woes amid low demand

Calfrac Well Services Ltd. (CFW-T) rose after investor Wilks Brothers LLC raised its hostile bid for the company to as much as 25 cents per share from a prior 18 cents.

The oil field services provider last month rejected the prior offer and said it was sweetening its recapitalization plan to reduce debt, at a time when its market value has shrunk significantly due to a crash in fuel demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wilks Brothers, led by oil billionaires Dan and Farris Wilks, has been acquiring stakes in hard-hit services firms in the United States and has been trying to buy Calfrac’s U.S. business since July.

See also: Calfrac rejects Wilks Brothers' takeover, sweetens recapitalization bid

Heroux-Devtek Inc. (HRX-T) increased after saying it has won a multi-year contract with the Boeing Company to manufacture new actuation components for several types of commercial aircraft.

The contract win by the company’s CESA subsidiary in Spain includes the supply of production requirements and spare parts for the 787, 777, 777X, 767, and 747.

The company says it is the largest contract for Heroux-Devtek Spain.

MediPharm Labs Corp. (LABS-T) soared in the wake of announcing an exclusive supply agreement with Germany’s STADA, a leading European consumer healthcare and generics companies.

The Toronto-based company will provide medical cannabis products to STADA, as well as manufacturing, logistics, and regulatory support. STADA will commercialize the products, initially in Germany.

In a research note, ATB Capital Markets analyst David Kideckel said: “We view the agreement as highly positive and the most significant pharmaceutical-cannabis deal to ever be executed in the industry. We believe that the agreement with STADA reinforces LABS' pharma-quality production capabilities and is a decisive step to explore the European medical cannabis market, one of the largest in the world. As we have noted before, we believe that LABS' pharma-focused global platform is a differentiator for the Company and will drive its long-term growth. At the present time, any significant revenue generated from the agreement with STADA would be upside to our estimates.”

Laval-based Neptune Wellness Solutions Inc. (NEPT-T) rose higher after announcing it has reduced its headcount by 25 per cent to focus on business initiatives and to accelerate profitability with less focus on long-term, asset heavy investments."

Separately, Neptune announced a distributorship agreement with a subsidiary of The Kraft Heinz Company (KHC-Q) to market and distribute its products in India, Vietnam, the Caribbean Islands and Latin America.

Shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN-Q) jumped in early trading on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump’s physician said he had been treated with an intravenous dose of its dual antibody treatment.

“One of his treatments was an experimental drug from Regeneron (and) that’s showing that this could be a major component to treatments moving forward for people,” said Thomas Hayes, chairman at Great Hill Capital LLC in New York.

U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM-N) was up in the wake of saying on Monday it plans to reduce its European workforce by up to 1,600 across the company’s affiliates by the end of 2021 as part of its global review.

Exxon said country-specific cuts will depend on the oil major’s local business footprint and market conditions, after the COVID-19 pandemic hammered demand for its products and crude prices tanked.

Oil majors are axing jobs, lowering spending and curbing dividends in order to save cash amid a dismal outlook over energy prices which are expected to remain lackluster for years.

Last month, Exxon announced voluntary layoffs in Australia and said that job cuts will continue globally into 2021.

U.S. drugmaker Bristol Myers Squibb Co. (BMY-N) was narrowly higher after it said on Monday it would buy MyoKardia Inc. (MYOK-Q) for about US$13-billion to expand its heart drugs business and reduce its dependence on cancer treatments.

Bristol Myers will pay US$225 per share in cash, a 61.2-per-cent premium to MyoKardia’s Friday closing price.

The deal follows Bristol Myers' US$74-billion acquisition of Celgene Corp last year that combined two of the world’s largest cancer drug businesses in the biggest pharmaceutical deal ever.

With the deal for Myokardia, Bristol Myers will get access to mavacamten, a drug candidate for a chronic heart disease that affects up to 200,000 people across the United States and Europe.

Shares of MyoKardia, which have nearly doubled in value this year, surged.

On the decline

Cineplex Inc. (CGX-T) fell after two more equity analysts on the Street downgraded its shares before the bell.

Also weighing on sentiment was Cineworld’s announcement that it will close all of its UK and U.S. movie theatres this week, leaving as many as 45,000 workers unemployed for the foreseeable future as it strives to survive a coronavirus collapse in film-making and cinema-going.

The world’s second-biggest cinema chain said the reluctance of studios to push ahead with major releases such as the new James Bond film had left it no choice but to close all 536 Regal theatres in the U.S. and its 127 Cineworld and Picturehouse theatres in the UK from Oct. 8.

Confirming weekend reports on the closures by Reuters and UK media, the company’s statement on Monday spelt out the scale of the job losses, which take in thousands of ancillary staff including cleaners and security as well as its own employees. It gave no indication of when cinemas might reopen.

DraftKings Inc. (DKNG-Q) dropped after announcing an underwritten public offering of 32 million shares of its Class A common stock, consisting of 16 million shares being offered by DraftKings and 16 million shares being offered by certain selling stockholders.

The Boston-based company intends to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes.

With files from staff and wires