May 1, 2017
BNN's Daily Chase: Pembina-Veresen merger shakes up energy infrastructure industry
By Andrew Bell
A massive merger in Canada's oil and gas processing-and-transporting sector drivers our coverage on BNN today.
Pembina Pipeline (PPL.TO) says its takeover of Veresen (VSN.TO) in a deal valued at $9.7 billion will unite their assets to create a "leading North American energy infrastructure company."
At 4pm today, we'll be joined by Veresen CEO Don Althoff, who "will continue to be involved in the combined company." The cash-and-stock deal values Veresen shares at about $18.65, a premium of 23 per cent to Friday's close but down from almost $19 in April of 2015.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump apparently favours Veresen’s plan to ship liquefied natural gas from Oregon. At 11:40 a.m. ET on Commodities, we’ll look at America’s growing LNG exports with Teri Viswanath, managing director of natural gas at Pira Energy Group.
HOME CAPITAL CONCERNS
We also have comprehensive coverage of the concerns over alternative mortgage lenders as Home Capital (HCG.TO) copes with an outflow of savers' money. Amber Kanwar has been getting big web traction with her column arguing that even though the Ontario Securities Commission says shareholders were misled, "there is still no evidence of widespread and systemic fraud" at the company.
We heard this morning from Andrew Moor, CEO of Equitable Group (EQB.TO), which saw its stock plunge 17 per cent on Friday. The company says it has seen a "manageable" outflow of deposits and Moor says he has lined up $2-billion in funding, if needed, from the big banks.
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Terms include a 0.75 per cent commitment fee and a 0.50 per cent standby charge on undrawn amounts. Raymond James says the backstop credit facility was "obtained at reasonable cost."
At 3:30 p.m. ET, we'll be joined by Stephen Smith, chief executive officer at First National Financial Corp (FN.TO), whose stock was stable on Friday but fell 11 per cent on the week.
MAILBOX FULL
Finally, in an era burdened by endless email, we'll get advice on how companies can avoid squandering employees' priceless time.
Michael Mankins, partner at Bain & Co., is co-author of Time Talent Energy, which argues that employers can boost productivity by 40 per cent using simple techniques to focus workers' energy.
Every morning Commodities host Andrew Bell writes a ‘chase note’ to BNN's editorial staff listing the stories and events that will be in the spotlight that day. Have it delivered to your inbox before the trading day begins by heading to www.bnn.ca/subscribe.
