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Switching to a service-led economy with a volatile resource base would be "lengthy
and hazardous." - CAE Inc. chief executive Robert Brown
Shares of Stelco hit a 52-week high of $35.90 in April amid a wave of industry
consolidation. Photo: CBC
Stelco
rumoured to be up for sale
CBC News Canada June 1, 2007
Amid a wave of takeovers in the Canadian steel industry comes word that Stelco
Inc., the last domestically owned producer, is up for sale. ... In recent months,
Algoma Steel Inc. agreed to be taken over by India's Essar Global Ltd., in a
deal worth $1.86 billion, and Ipsco Inc. agreed to be acquired by Sweden's SSAB
Svenskt Stal AB in a $8.5-billion deal. Dofasco was acquired in 2006 by Arcelor,
which was then taken over by Mittal Steel. ... Shares of Stelco hit a 52-week
high of $35.90 in April amid the wave of consolidation. The stock closed Thursday
at $26.90, making Stelco's overall market capitalization almost $730 million.
Steclo emerged from creditor protection at the end of March 2006 after a 26-month
restructuring.
Stelco
could be next steel company in play: Report
CanWest News Service/Financial Post Canada June 1, 2007
Stelco Inc. could be the next big Canadian steel company on the auction block,
a media report out Friday morning suggests. Shareholders who own more than half
of Stelco are expressing interest in cashing out of the company in the midst
of a massive restructuring of the steel industry and strong commodity prices,
the report says. Toronto's Brookfield Asset Management Inc., which runs a restructuring
fund that is Stelco's largest shareholder at about 36 per cent, and Appaloosa
Management, a U.S. hedge fund that owns 18 per cent, have suggested they are
ready to sell at a premium to the current market price for Stelco stock, the
Globe and Mail reported. Analysts suggested Friday morning that it could be
a good time for such investors to plan an exit in advance of a possible downturn
in high-flying markets.
Related:
CAE boss warns against foreign takeovers
Robert Gibbens CanWest News Service/Financial Post Canada June 1, 2007
MONTREAL - CAE Inc. chief executive Robert Brown said Thursday Canadians can't
risk a "laissez-faire" attitude toward the surge of foreign takeovers
of big Canadian corporations because of the serious impact it could have on
the economy. "A country must be in charge of its own destiny and can't
have key decisions made outside," he said in an analysts' conference call.
"That means retaining large head offices and the top-quality jobs they
provide." CAE, founded in Montreal 50 years ago, is the world leader in
flight simulation and pilot training with fiscal 2007 revenue of $1.25 billion.
CAE developed all its technology here and Brown returned the headquarters to
Montreal from Toronto. ... Earlier this week, Bombardier CEO Laurent Beaudoin
called for federal intervention into foreign takeovers while the federal Liberal
Opposition called for a moratorium on them until Ottawa sets new rules. The
loss of head offices from the takeovers of Inco by Brazil's CVRD and of Falconbridge
by European metals giant Xstrata, along with the threat of foreign control of
Alcan and BCE, implies more decline in Canada's backbone manufacturing sector,
he said. But switching to a service-led economy with a volatile resource base
would be "lengthy and hazardous." ...
Canada
dlr to hit parity with USD by end '07-CIBC
Reuters UK June 1, 2007
The Canadian dollar will reach parity with the U.S. currency by the end of
2007 with the help of high commodity prices, ongoing merger-related interest
and higher interest rates, CIBC World Markets said on Friday. CIBC said the
Canadian dollar, which was last at par with the U.S. dollar in November 1976,
will maintain parity with the greenback into at least the first quarter of 2008.
"Between red-hot commodity and energy markets and huge capital inflows
associated with an avalanche of M&A deals, the Canadian currency has plenty
of octane left to take a concerted run toward parity against the greenback,"
CIBC World Markets chief economist Jeff Rubin, said in a statement. ...