Cellphones at Morgan Stanley Canada lit up last week in the wake of a $200-million share sale from mining company Iamgold Corp.
While the bought deal was straightforward, heads turned on Bay Street because Morgan Stanley had been notably quiet in the gold sector after seeing its head Canadian mining banker lured away last year to a top job at a client, global agriculture company JBS.
Yet here was the firm leading a financing alongside TD Securities and National Bank Financial. Bankers at rivals texted colleagues at Morgan Stanley to ask, "What's up?"
Richard Tory is what's up. The veteran dealmaker arrived at Morgan Stanley's Toronto office in July as head of investment banking in Canada, while retaining his role as the New York-based firm's global head of metals and mining. The stock sale for Iamgold is expected to mark the first of many mining transactions for Morgan Stanley, a firm with a bullish view on Canada's prospects.
Dougal Macdonald, president of Morgan Stanley Canada, spent the better part of six months recruiting Mr. Tory back to Canada from the firm's office in London, as part of a broader strategy to step up coverage of domestic clients and to advise foreign companies on domestic deals.
In an interview, Mr. Macdonald said: "In Canada, our view is all sectors are growth sectors, and that is not something you can say about every part of the world."
Mr. Tory returned to Canada after 21 years away. His family is well-known in Toronto circles, as his father and uncle co-founded the law firm that still sports their names, and one cousin – John – is mayor of the city, while another – Jennifer – runs personal and commercial banking at Royal Bank. Story
SaskTel under pressure
Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall recently challenged government-owned SaskTel to come up with a competitive response to the brave new world of telecom, where deals are coming fast and furious. Pity the poor soul charged with writing that report.
The Premier asked for a refreshed game plan from SaskTel because the company is squarely in the sights of BCE, after the country's biggest telecom player dropped $3.9-billion this spring to buy next-door-neighbour Manitoba Telecom Services (MTS).
How does SaskTel's executive team reply? BCE's strategy for winning customers includes owning stakes in sports franchises: the Maple Leafs, Raptors, Argos and Canadiens. Does SaskTel respond by buying the Roughriders?
Or should SaskTel take inspiration from the big dog in U.S. wireless, Verizon, which doled out $9-billion (U.S.) over the past year for struggling Internet pioneers Yahoo and AOL. Is it too much to ask the folks from Regina to build the search engine that knocks off Google? Story
WEEKEND DEALS
Private-equity firm KKR & Co. is considering a bid for television distributor Entertainment One Ltd. after the owner of the preschool cartoon character "Peppa Pig" rejected an offer from British broadcaster ITV Plc, according to people familiar with the matter. Story
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