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The Bay Street sign is shown in the heart of the financial district as people walk by in Toronto.MARK BLINCH/Reuters

Sprott Inc.'s two-year pursuit of rival Central Fund of Canada Ltd. neared an end Monday with a friendly deal to acquire the $4.3-billion bullion fund manager for $125-million. Toronto-based Sprott will double the size of its gold and silver bullion funds to $8.5-billion and add 90,000 new investors by acquiring Central Fund. Story (Andrew Willis)

It took nearly half a century for Jean Coutu to build a pharmacy retail empire that enjoys unparalleled brand trust with consumers and the industry's highest sales per square foot in North America. It took a single mandate for the Quebec government to hatch the drug reforms that helped convince him to sell the company. Story (Nicolas Van Praet and Josh O'Kane)

DAILY DEALS:

The Great Gulf real estate group is buying a high-profile, high-rise development in Toronto's entertainment district from Ed Mirvish Enterprises. The Mirvish+Gehry project currently calls for two towers – one 82 storeys and the other 92 storeys – near the Princess of Wales theatre on King Street West. Story

Canadian apparel company Roots Corp has set a price range of $14 to $16 per share for its planned Toronto initial public offering (IPO), seeking to raise about $200-million, according to a term sheet of the deal seen by Reuters. Roots, known for its trademark beaver logo, rustic casual wear and Canadian-made leather goods, is expected to price the IPO in the week of Oct. 16, the term sheet showed. Story

It's not often that entire industries spring up over the course of a few years, let alone ones that become incredibly profitable. This paradigm shift comes courtesy of the newly budding cannabis industry, and Toronto-based Herb is the latest to cash in, announcing a $4.1-million (U.S.) seed round late last month. Techvibes

A tiny piece of meat palpitating on the end of a cotton-swab-like stick immersed in red liquid may be an unsettling sight. But for Canadian-backed biotech Novoheart Holdings Inc., these miniature lab-grown hearts may represent the future of drug testing and cardiac health. Novoheart, which will list on the TSX Venture Exchange on Tuesday, is hoping to transform how drugs are tested. Story

Brandon Stranzl, executive chairman of Sears Canada Inc., has accused the company of creating a sale process that has sidelined his bid to keep the insolvent retailer operating. Story

ELSEWHERE IN FINANCE:

RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust has put 100 properties up for sale, as the company exits dozens of smaller Canadian cities and focuses on the country's largest markets of Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Montreal. Story

Canadian pension fund OMERS and U.S. buyout group Madison are acquiring Berlin's landmark property Sony Center from Korea's national pension fund NPS for $1.6-billion, the companies said. Story

WHAT WE'RE READING

The most commonly cited culprit for the decline of America's newspapers is the Internet and the assumption that no one needs to pay for news anymore. But simple capitalist greed is also to blame. Since 2004, speculators have bought and sucked dry an estimated 679 hometown newspapers that reached a combined audience of 12.8 million people. The Nation

Elon Musk Versus the Haters: Tesla is burning through cash and losing billions. It's also short sellers Institutional Investor

Goldman Sachs Asset Management has joined the list of firms planning to absorb the cost of third-party research after the new European Union MiFID II regulations come into force in January. GSAM, which oversees more than $1 trillion (U.S.), intends to pay for the analysis used by its European investment management teams from January 2018, the unit said in a statement. Bloomberg

With MiFID II looming, hedge funds are concluding there's strength in numbers. Smaller money managers are increasingly clubbing together on platforms to share the costs of the European Union's regulatory overhaul and get help with the paperwork and legal hurdles of compliance. Bloomberg

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