The Bay Street sign is shown in the heart of the financial district as people walk by in Toronto.MARK BLINCH/Reuters
Because interest rates remain so low and profits are subdued, Manulife Financial Corp. has been debating what to do with certain parts of John Hancock, its struggling American business. Rumours of a sale or spin-off of Manulife's struggling units, particularly those that pay annuities, have swirled for a while. Story (Tim Kiladze, for subscribers)
The head of exchange-traded funds for AGF Management Ltd. will be leaving the company at the beginning of 2018. Story (Clare O'Hara, for subscribers)
DEAL SUMMARY
Health-care services company McKesson Canada has acquired retailer Well.ca, which sells health, wellness, natural and baby products online. Story
Canada's Aurora Cannabis Inc said on Monday it increased its stake in Australia-based Cann Group Ltd to 22.9 per cent from 19.9 per cent, its latest move to expand in the cannabis industry. Story
Canadian pension funds and private equity investors are lining up to buy German metering company Techem with a multi-billion euro sale expected to launch in early 2018, sources familiar with the matter said. Story
CVS Health Corp.'s $67.5-billion (U.S.) takeover of Aetna Inc. will test the Trump administration's approach to far-reaching corporate takeovers, just weeks after the U.S. government sued to block a major telecommunications merger. Story
U.S. drugstore chain operator CVS Health Corp said on Sunday it had agreed to acquire U.S. health insurer Aetna Inc for $69-billion (U.S.), seeking to tackle soaring healthcare spending through lower-cost medical services in pharmacies. Story
Chipmaker Broadcom Ltd made its first formal move toward a hostile bid to take over Qualcomm Inc on Monday, laying out a slate of 11 nominees it wants to put on the board of the U.S. semiconductor firm. Story
Toronto-based Qvella has raised a $25-million Series B. The molecular diagnostics company is developing technology that enables the rapid detection of infectious agents in a direct blood sample. Betakit
GoNumerical-owned Coinsquare, a Toronto-based cryptocurrency platform for buying and selling bitcoin, has raised a $10.5-million Series A investment with a $110.5-million post-money valuation. The round was led by "a prominent global asset manager" whose name was not immediately available. Betakit
Blockchain startup Blockstack says it raised $52.8-million (U.S.) in its ICO, finalized Friday. The company is building a sort of parallel to the internet that users access via the Blockstack browser and that features a wide variety of apps. VentureBeat
There has been a veritable explosion of connected devices that people are using these days to interact with apps and the internet, from smartphones and computers, to cars, watches, home speakers and refrigerators. Now a startup out of Berlin called Contentful has raised $28-million (U.S.) to position itself as the platform to manage how all that information is delivered via a set of APIs. TechCrunch
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Officially, Paul Desmarais Sr. handed the executive reins to his two sons in 1996, but it was not until the late Power Corp. patriarch suffered a stroke in 2005 that "the boys" really took over. Opinion (Konrad Yakabuski, for subscribers)
The Desmarais family's Power Corp. empire has been treading water since the financial crisis. Now, as a third generation gets ready to take the reins, investors are losing patience. Can one of Canada's most influential families return the country's biggest conglomerate to its former glory? Saturday ROB cover story (Jacqueline Nelson and Andrew Willis, for subscribers)