What You Need To Know This Week — December 21st, 2019
What You Need To Know This Week
A weekly recap to keep you informed on the most important events this week impacting markets, business, tech and the global economy.
CANADA’S CINEPLEX ANNOUNCES SALE TO BRITAIN’S CINEWORLD FOR $2.15 BILLION
In a deal that will create North America’s largest movie theatre chain, Cineworld is acquiring Cineplex for $34.00 cash per share, representing a deal value of $2.15 billion and a premium of 42%. The current merger arbitrage spread implies a yield of 4.8%.
CANFOR’S STOCK PLUMMETS AS JIM PATTISON’S $1 BILLION BID FAILS
Jim Pattison’s bid to take struggling forestry company Canfor private for $1 billion failed when shareholders voted down the deal. The rejection by minority shareholders was unique such that the $16.00 per share offered represented an 80% premium to the company’s $8.80 price before the bid was announced. Canfor’s stock was down nearly -20% on the news.
EQUINOX AND LEAGOLD MERGE TO CREATE A $1.75 BILLION GOLD MINER
Equinox Gold announced a nil-premium, friendly all-stock merger of equals with Leagold Mining, valuing the miner at $770 million. The combined company will receive a $40 million investment from mining veteran Ross Beaty and $130 million in debt financing from Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala Investment Company.
Recommended Articles, Podcasts, Books and Tweets
Listen to Robert Smith, Founder and CEO of technology private equity firm Vista Equity Partners, on Reid Hoffman’s Masters of Scale podcast.
SNC-Lavalin pleaded guilty to fraud and agreed to pay a nearly $300 million fine.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach President Trump for abuse of power and obstruction. The markets shrugged it off as the S&P 500 continued its rally to new all-time highs. It’s highly unlikely that the initiative will pass the Senate.
What do clients really want from their advisors? A survey indicates they are seeking more engaging and frequent communication.
So-called ESG funds are drawing scrutiny from the SEC, given how loosely some of these funds invest based on environmental, social or governance measures.
There is a closed-end fund that has beaten the S&P 500 over the past 40 years by 0.5% per year. What makes the fund unique is that it has been around since 1935 and it doesn’t have a portfolio manager or follow an index.
There’s a strange divergence in the performance of stocks this year, with strong outperformance of expensive large-cap stocks and substantial underperformance of cheap small-cap stocks. This divergence in performance reflects the exact opposite of the past 30 year performance of the segments.
Goldman Sachs is nearing a $2 billion settlement with the US Department of Justice for its role in the Malaysian 1MDB sovereign wealth fund scandal.
Citadel’s market making arm generated $3.5 billion of revenue last year.
Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot announced a $50 billion merger with the goal of cutting costs.
London-listed NMC Health stock dropped -32% after short-seller Muddy Waters issued a report indicating they had “serious doubts” about the company’s finances.
Happy holidays and see you next year! Thank you for being part of the Accelerate story.
