A push by major institutional investors to improve the boardroom behaviour of U.S. public companies is getting support from Canadian heavyweights.
RBC Global Asset Management and Sun Life Financial Inc.'s Boston-based money manager MFS Investment Management have joined a contingent of large institutions laying out a new corporate governance road map – including a move to shun dual-class share structures and assert that shareholders deserve "voting rights in proportion to their economic interest."
That message is being sent at a time when many companies, particularly in the technology sector, are launching dual-class initial public offerings. The upcoming IPO of Snap Inc., parent company to social media phenomenon Snapchat, is planning to adopt a structure with non-voting shares, according to reports. Other Canadian firms have also recently come to market with subordinate and multiple-voting shares. Story
Has Vision Capital spotted the next REIT takeover?
When Milestone Apartments REIT units soared on news of a $1.3-billion (U.S.) takeover bid from private-equity fund Starwood Capital last month, investors began searching for the next potential acquisition target in the real estate sector.
One veteran fund manager was already there.
There is a smaller version of Milestone trading in Canada, a Vancouver-based company called Pure Multi-Family REIT that owns also high-end apartment buildings in U.S. Sun Belt cities.
In the wake of the offer for Milestone – which some investors argue undervalues the company – units in Pure hit all-time highs. In December, a month before Starwood's bid put residential REITs in the spotlight, Toronto-based Vision Capital Corp. revealed it held more than 10 per cent of Pure.
It was the latest example of Vision seeing value in an out-of-favour property stock. Story
DAILY DEALS
Canadian health-care software firm PointClickCare Technologies Inc. has delayed its plans to go public and instead has raised $85-million (U.S.) in a private financing led by San Francisco fund Dragoneer Investment Group. Story
Deep-pocketed San Francisco fintech startup Social Finance, Inc. has snapped up Zenbanx Holding Ltd., a mobile savings account provider started by Canadian banker and entrepreneur Arkadi Kuhlmann, in a deal worth close to $100-million (U.S.) Story
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
James Bradshaw: National Bank poaches banking analyst from rival Canaccord Story
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