Our roundup of Canadian small-caps of between $100-million and $2.5-billion in market capitalization making news and on the move today.
Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd (OR-T; OR-N) announced an agreement to acquire the share of Barkerville Gold Mines Ltd. (BGM-X) it doesn’t already own. Osisko said it currently holds approximately 32.6 per cent of the outstanding Barkerville shares.
Under the terms of the arrangement, each shareholder of Barkerville (excluding Osisko) will receive 0.0357 of a common share of Osisko for each share of Barkerville. The company said the exchange ratio implies consideration of 58 cents per Barkerville share based on Friday's closing price. That implies a total equity value of approximately $338-million on a fully-diluted "in the money basis," inclusive of Barkerville shares held by Osisko, according to the release.
"The addition of the Cariboo Gold project to our portfolio adds a potentially world-class asset in Canada in an impacted brownfield site with significant infrastructure in place," stated Sean Roosen, CEO of Osisko.
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People Corp. (PEO-X) announced a $60-million bought-deal offering. It has an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters that has agreed to purchase about 6.6 million common shares for $9.10 each.
The net proceeds “will be used to reduce debt, fund growth initiatives (including future acquisitions) and general corporate purposes,” the company stated.
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DHX Media Ltd. (DHX-T) is changing its name to WildBrain, the name of its child-focused YouTube business, and launching a reorganization of the company.
The producer and distributor of child and youth-oriented programming says its YouTube business has been renamed WildBrain Spark.
The company also says chief operating officer Aaron Ames has been appointed as chief financial officer to replace Doug Lamb, who has decided to step down.
The changes follow the appointment of Eric Ellenbogen, a former president and chief executive of Marvel Enterprises, as DHX’s new chief executive at the end of last month.
DHX reported a loss attributable to the company of $62.8-million or 47 cents per share on $108.8-million in revenue for the three months ended June 30.
The result for what was the company’s fourth-quarter compared with a loss of $21.6-million or 16 cents per share on $97.4-million in the same quarter last year.
-Reuters
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Slang Worldwide Inc. (SLNG-C) announced that, in connection with last week’s investment in the company by Canopy Growth Corp. founder and former CEO Bruce Linton, each of the directors and senior officers of Slang entered into lock-up agreements with Mr. Linton. The locked-up holders currently hold an aggregate of approximately 53 million common shares of Slang on a fully diluted basis," the company stated. The agreements say the holders will not "sell, transfer, pledge or otherwise dispose of any Slang securities prior to Sept. 16, 2020.
“Slang’s senior leadership team believes, very deeply, in our growth strategy and our ability to create value for shareholders in the near and long-term,” said Peter Miller, CEO.
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Points International Ltd. (PTS-T) announced that it has extended its existing relationship with the Air Miles reward program “to further leverage the Points Travel services.”
Points CEO Rob MacLean said the new offering "empowers Air Miles collectors to do more with their miles. We look forward to continuing to support their program growth, leveraging our platform to power new features and offering more flexibility to members for years to come.”
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Home Capital Group Inc. (HCG-T) announced the pricing of a $425-million private placement of residential mortgage-backed securities by Classic RMBS Trust, a securitization vehicle sponsored by Home Trust. The company said the securities are “backed by a portfolio of near-prime, uninsured, residential mortgages and are comprised of A, B and Z tranches that aggregate $500-million.”
The A Tranche of $425-million will be sold to accredited investors in Canada and the United States by a syndicate led by BofA Merrill Lynch and co-managed by BMO Capital Markets and RBC Capital Markets, the company said. It said the syndicate also includes all of the other major Canadian bank-owned investment dealers. The remaining $75-million comprised of the B and Z Tranches will be taken up by Home Trust.
“Home Trust is pleased to launch this innovative product in both the Canadian and United States markets. Issuing RMBS, in addition to our existing base of customer deposits and CMHC sponsored securitization programs, represents an attractive funding option for us,” stated Home Capital chief financial officer Brad Kotush. “We expect to be a serial issuer of these securities in the future. Further, we believe that by starting this sustainable program of RMBS issuance we may, with the support of other industry participants, help to establish a private RMBS market in Canada.”