Cannabis seedlings at the new Aurora Cannabis facility Friday, November 24, 2017 in Montreal.Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press
Here are the top reads,
High deal: Aurora Cannabis Inc. struck a deal to acquire CanniMed Therapeutics Inc. for about $1.2-billion, marking an end to a heated two-month-long takeover battle between the two medical marijuana companies. Story (Christina Pellegrini, for subscribers)
As Jeff Jones writes, the industry's richest-ever transaction could give some of its investors nosebleeds. Story (for subscribers)
Lineups around the block: Online discount brokerages at Canada's Big Six banks are continuing to see a surge in trading volumes and new account openings amid the investor frenzy centred on cannabis and cryptocurrency-related stocks. Story (Clare O'Hara, for subscribers)
FINANCIAL SERVICES WRAP
Trust: Equifax Canada's chief privacy officer says there's no evidence of fraudulent activity on the Canadian accounts hacked in last year's massive data breach at its U.S. parent company. Story
DEAL WRAP
IPO watch: Coinsquare, one of Canada's biggest digital currency exchanges, is targeting about $150-million in an initial public offering in September to help finance an overseas expansion. Story (for subscribers)
Canadian venture market: Venture-backed companies based in Canada raised a record $3.3-billion, in investment funding last year, up from $3.1-billion in 2016, according to a report by PwC and CB Insights. Story
World venture market: Venture capital investors spent more money on fewer deals in 2017, according to a new report from financial services firm KPMG. Annual global venture capital funding hit $155-billion (U.S.) in 2017, the highest level in ten years, the firm said. Institutional Investor
Chip sector: Big takeovers have a way of placing pricing power in the hands of the merging companies. So when Broadcom Ltd. went public with a hostile $105-billion (U.S.( bid for Qualcomm Inc. – potentially creating a colossal maker of chips used in wireless handsets – mobile phone makers had cause for concern. Chief among them: Apple Inc. Bloomberg
Retail sector: Altitude Sports, an online retailer of urban and outdoor high-end clothing, has raised undisclosed amount of growth equity from BDC Capital's Growth Equity division. The transaction closed in December 2017. Private Capital Journal
U.S. venture market: San Francisco-based Front, an email tool company, announced today that it has raised $66-million (U.S.) in a funding round led by Sequoia Capital to expand the footprint of its email collaboration service. VentureBeat
Ambitious: SoftBank, which controls the $93-billion (U.S.) Vision Fund, wants to raise even more money. The Japanese investment giant is in talks with banks to raise as much as $5-billion in new debt by using its U.K. chip subsidiary Arm as collateral, according to people familiar with the matter. The Information
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Chinese state: A Calgary oil company backed by China's authoritarian Communist Party has emerged as a major buyer of distressed energy assets, prompting new concern over Canada's push to explore free-trade talks with China. Story