Welcome to the Morning Meeting, a look at some must-read news on deals and deal makers.
Speaker Pelosi promises she's in Canada to listen
Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, had her first of three dinners with representatives from different sides of the oil sands expansion debate Wednesday, and Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach said it went better than he expected. Instead of showing up with an agenda, Ms. Pelosi said: "'Hey, I'm here to listen. We want to get both sides of the story,'" he told The Globe and Mail. "Boy, after today, I'm excited."
The meetings come at a crucial time, with Washington debating the massive cross-border Keystone XL pipeline project. Other points of discussion included: Quebec's hydro-electric capacity; the United States' efforts to reduce its dependence on coal (much of which is bought from Saskatchewan); and Canadian innovations in the field of carbon capture and storage, an unproven but promising method to reduce the emissions footprint of oil sands development.
BofA content with making its current size work
Banks around the world are anxiously waiting to see what comes of this weekend's meeting of top financial regulators and central bankers in Switzerland. But Brian Moynihan, Bank of America Merrill Lynch's chief executive officer, told The Globe and Mail he isn't as full of anticipation because he has no plans of putting his excess capital toward an acquisition. BofA has already done that, and saved Merrill Lynch in the process. "What we needed to put together was this franchise, now it's done. Now we've got to operate it," he said.
Saskatchewan warns BHP about breaking potash cartel
The province of Saskatchewan has a vested interest in maintaining Canpotex, the cartel that controls the price of Potash, and on Thursday the provincial government made it clear that BHP Billiton must keep the body in tact if the miner wants its approval for a takeover of Potash Corp. Analysts expect BHP to break free of the cartel because the firm prefers to negotiate with buyers on its own, but Saskatchewan said a commitment for at least a limited time frame is necessary.
Casey's wasn't bluffing about a second bidder
Executives at Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. released a statement earlier this week that played down the legitimacy of Casey's General Stores Inc.'s claim that a second bidder had emerged and was willing to offer more money than the Canadian firm. That suggestion was thrown by the way side Wednesday when The Wall Street Journal reported that 7-Eleven is the mystery bidder and is willing to pay $40 (U.S.) a share, higher than Couche-Tard's $38.50 offer.
Goldman slapped with another multi-million dollar fine
This time the fine comes from British securities regulators, who are mad that the firm didn't disclose that Fabrice Tourre, the man behind the Abacus 2007-AC1 credit derivative that landed Goldman Sachs in hot water with the Securities and Exchange Commission, had been given a Wells Notice, which means enforcement action was coming against him. The British fine is $27-million (U.S.), a hefty sum but only a fraction of the $550-million Goldman agreed to pay the S.E.C.