The departure of brothers André and Paul Jr. after nearly a quarter-century paves the way for Jeffrey Orr to take the helm. Previously the CEO of Power Financial Corporation, he is the first non-family member to become CEO of the Montreal-based multinational. (The Logic)
After a lacklustre 2018, 2019 “has been a great year for IPOs in Canada,” with the country’s top 15 tech companies raising over $1.5 billion in funding, according to a White Star Capital report. The biggest fish in the report, B.C.-based Clio, harvested $333.5 million this year; it was the largest tech round since 2000, until this week’s $358-million raise by Nuvei. (The report doesn’t include the $515 million raised in September by St. John’s-based Verafin, as it was primarily private equity, not venture capital.) (The Logic)
Existing investors, including private equity firm Novacap and the pension Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, participated in the round. (The Logic)
The letters lay out the Liberal government’s priorities for the next Parliament, many drawn from the party’s election campaign promises. They include plans to introduce more competition into the telecom market in two years if the existing players don’t lower their prices, a new fund to support technology and innovation for Western Canadian businesses and the launch of a national competition to attract privately backed funds for deep retrofits of large buildings. (The Logic)
Chinese police detained Li Yonghui on Friday on suspicions that he illegally accepted public funds. Li is a Canadian national and CEO of Fincera, a New York-listed peer-to-peer lending platform, which recently closed its operations in China. Police said they also detained the company’s lawyer and several other people. (Reuters)
U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted that while the 25 per cent tariff on Chinese imports will remain in place, the 15 per cent levy on other goods has been halved; another round of tariffs meant to take effect Sunday will not go through. Trump said the agreement covered energy and manufactured goods, among others; Chinese Commerce Vice-Minister Wang Shouwen mentioned issues like agriculture, tech transfer and IP protection. (The Wall Street Journal)
The deal gives Germany-based Delivery Hero an 88 per cent stake in Woowa, which owns the leading app in South Korea’s rapidly growing on-demand food-delivery market. It marks the biggest acquisition in the space and values Delivery Hero at US$12 billion, up from about US$4.9 billion when it went public in 2017. The company’s stock rose 23.3 per cent in Friday trading. (Reuters)
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his party's win, its biggest since 1987, represented "a huge, great, stonking mandate” to “get Brexit done." The British pound and London's FTSE 100 both surged on the result, the latter driven by gains for homebuilders, utilities and banks. (Financial Times, The Guardian)
Miller Thomson, the law firm representing users of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, is asking the RCMP to perform the exhumation so an autopsy can be conducted. The RCMP did not immediately reply to questions from The Logic regarding whether they would comply. (The Globe and Mail)
Hutcheson, a 10-year veteran of the pension fund, is replacing Michael Latimer, who will retire at the end of May after six years as CEO. (The Logic)