Investors showing interest in Canada's nascent renewable-energy market
Investors grabbed at a record solar-bond issue as renewable-energy production grows in Canada.
Connor, Clark & Lunn Infrastructure and Samsung Renewable Energy Inc. wrapped up the country's largest renewable-energy financing for a single project – a $633-million solar-bond transaction linked to the Kingston Solar Project in Ontario.
This will refinance existing debt for Canada's biggest operating solar project, which covers more than 600 football fields worth of unused farmland with nearly half a million solar panels that can power 17,000 Ontario homes. The deal follows another major solar-bond issue by the group this year showing the emerging appetite for renewable-energy debt from yield-hungry investors. Together, CC&L and Samsung have brought more than $1.2-billion in solar bonds to the market this year.
Although the market is nascent in Canada, investors have shown increased interest in renewable-energy financings, said Matt O'Brien, president of CC&L. Story
Fast-food chain Freshii prepping a fall IPO
Canadian quick-service restaurant chain Freshii is preparing to go public, a deal that is scheduled to launch this fall and build on the success of Aritzia's recent initial public offering.
For a full year there has been chatter that Freshii wanted to pursue an IPO. The company, however, was in a tough spot because it isn't big enough to garner mass attention in the United States, where it initially wanted to list, and the Canadian IPO market all but died in 2016.
However, there are finally signs of life in Canada, fuelled by Aritzia Inc.'s recent IPO, whose size was increased by 25 per cent to $400-million on the back of heavy investor demand. That, coupled with Freshii's desire to go public, is giving investment bankers the confidence to launch a deal in Canada, according to people familiar with the offering. Story
Scotiabank rebuilds economics team to make policy splash
Bank of Nova Scotia is adding another new face to its economics team, injecting new blood that should help the institution have a bigger impact on policy matters.
Brett House is joining the bank as deputy chief economist, starting Nov. 1. He previously held the role of chief economist at Alignvest Investment Management, an alternative asset manager based in Toronto with some big names behind it. The firm is run by Reza Satchu and Timothy Hodgson, and Don Raymond, formerly Canada Pension Plan Investment Board's chief investment officer, now has the same role at Alignvest. Story
CIBC, RBC hired at 11th hour for potash megadeal
Two Canadian banks were brought in at the eleventh hour to work on the blockbuster fertilizer merger of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. and Agrium Inc.
Just weeks before the $36-billion (U.S.) deal was announced in early September, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce was contacted to work as a financial adviser to Agrium and Royal Bank of Canada was engaged to work for Potash Corp., according to the management information circular.
The Canadian banks were tapped months after two U.S. banks had been working on the deal – a move that one source described as ensuring Canadians were included. Story
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