Our roundup of Canadian small-caps of between $100-million and $2.5-billion in market capitalization making news and on the move today.
Canopy Growth Corp. (WEED-T) announced an agreement that grants it the rights to buy Acreage Holdings, Inc. (ACRG.U-C) “with a requirement to do so at such time as cannabis production and sale becomes federally legal in the United States.”
Under the terms of the agreement, if approved, Acreage Holders will receive an immediate aggregate total payment of US$300-million or approximately US$2.55 per Acreage subordinate voting share. Those shareholders will also receive 0.5818 of a common share of Canopy Growth for each Acreage subordinate voting share held.
The total consideration is valued at approximately US$3.4-billion on a fully-diluted basis, the company said, represents a premium of 41.7 per centt over the 30-day volume weighted average price of the Acreage subordinate voting shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange ending April 16.
“Today we announce a complex transaction with a simple objective. Our right to acquire Acreage secures our entrance strategy into the United States as soon as a federally-permissible pathway exists,” said Bruce Linton, chairman and co-CEO of Canopy Growth. “By combining Acreage’s management team, licenses and assets with Canopy Growth’s intellectual property and brands, there will be tremendous value creation for both companies’ shareholders.”
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Acreage Holdings, Inc. (ACRG.U-C) announced its subsidiary, High Street Capital Partners, LLC, is buying Deep Roots Medical LLC, a cannabis operator in Nevada in a cash-and-share deal valued at $120-million.
“We continue to deliver on our shareholder commitments to aggressively expand our presence in the West," stated Kevin Murphy, founder and CEO of Acreage Holdings, Inc. "We could not be more excited for what we believe will become a leading operation in the state of Nevada, one of the most important states in the cannabis industry.”
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TransAlta Corp. (TA-T; TAC-N) announced late Wednesday that shareholder Mangrove Partners has withdrawn its application before the Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) for a hearing related to TransAlta’s recent transaction with Brookfield.
"As previously released, Mangrove originally filed applications on April 8, 2019 before both the ASC and the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) complaining about the Brookfield transaction," the company stated. "On April 15, 2019, the OSC issued a decision declining to assert jurisdiction, which left the matter solely within the jurisdiction of the ASC."
TransAlta added that, "Within hours of receiving TransAlta's response submissions on April 17, 2019, Mangrove withdrew its application effective immediately. The result is that Mangrove's application before the ASC has been abandoned. The OSC's previous decision declining to hear the complaints, coupled with Mangrove abandoning its application before the ASC, means that this matter before the Commissions is at an end."
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Wayland Group (WAYL-C) issued a statement last Wednesday “to address recent reports in the media about the selection process in Germany for domestic medical cannabis cultivation.”
The company said the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) announced that nine of the 13 cultivation licenses that were previously announced have been officially awarded.
"Wayland, through its joint venture with Demecan GmbH, was originally selected by BfArM to receive three licenses to produce medical cannabis in Germany. Per the announcement, four licenses remain under review as they have been challenged by a third party," the company stated.
The company said it believes its concept "is clearly superior to that of the parties challenging the award to Demecanand do not believe there is merit to their complaints. Wayland fully expects that the award of three lots to Demecan will be confirmed."
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Surge Energy Inc. (SGY-T) announced it has entered into a $30-million bought-deal financing of five-year convertible unsecured subordinated debentures with a syndicate of underwriters led by National Bank Financial Inc. The net proceeds “will be used to pay down a portion of the outstanding indebtedness under the company’s revolving term credit facility,” it stated.
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Katanga Mining Limited (KAT-T) announced the resignation of Danny Callow as CEO of the company. The board also approved Jeff Gerard’s appointment to the CEO position by Glencore International AG, effective May 2, “pursuant to the management services agreement between the company and Glencore.”
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Stuart Olson Inc. (SOX-T) announced the board has selected David Filmon to succeed Albrecht Bellstedt as chair following the Company’s annual and special meeting of shareholders on May 22. Mr. Bellstedt is retiring from the role after over 10 years as chair, the company stated.
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Alaris Royalty Corp. (AD-T) issued a statement regarding the trading activity of its common shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The stock fell 10 per cent on Wednesday.
"Although we do not generally respond to market activity, we feel it is appropriate at this time to comment based on the level of trading activity in AD shares today," the company stated after markets closed on Wednesday.
The company said an analyst that covers the company distributed a research report "highlighting risks Alaris faces with regards to a current partner, Providence Industries." Alaris said it filed its annual information form on April 2 that highlighted that its distribution from Providence "had been blocked at the end of March 2019 but that it was too early in the discussions with Providence and Providence’s senior lenders to determine the level of impact to our business."
Alaris called it "a non-material event," with the Providence distribution "only accounting for approximately 5 per cent of total revenue" it expects for the year ended Dec. 31, 2019.
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Stornoway Diamond Corp. (SWY-T) announced the appointment of Dino Rambidis as its chief financial officer, effective immediately. He replaces Orin Baranowsky, “who has decided to step down from his current role.”
The company said Mr. Baranowsky will remain with the company up to the end of May 2019 "to ensure an orderly transition."
The company said Mr. Rambidis is a chartered professional accountant "with more than 30 years of experience in senior financial management positions with public and private companies across multiple industries, notably in the financial sector."
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theScore, Inc. (SCR-X) announced second-quarter revenue was $6.8-million compared to $7.1-million for the same period last year. Analysts were expecting revenue of $7.4-million in the latest quarter ended Feb. 28. Its net loss was $3-million or a penny per share versus a loss of $1.6-million or a penny per share a year ago.