The Windsor Star from Windsor, Ontario, Canada • B6

6 Tuesd Mar 26 2019 Windsor Ta Sco De Brookfield Asset Management Inc. will invest million in power producer TransAlta Corp. and nominate two directors to its board. Brookfield could also increase its stake in the Calgary-based utility to about nine per cent under certain conditions, according to a statement Monday. The deal allows Brookfield to convert its investment into an equity interest in Alberta hydro assets at a later date.

The investment is being made through publicly traded renewable-energy arm, Brookfield Renewable Partners. The two parties have held talks over the years about various transactions but decided to proceed with the deal because it allows TransAlta to crystallize the future value of hydro assets and speed up its transition to clean energy, said TransAlta CEO Dawn Farrell. is a big and sophisticated company that has huge ownership in renewables and Farrell said. amount of pressure would make this kind of transaction come together. It requires people who understand the industry, understand infrastruc- ture and understand each TransAlta will use the proceeds to move toward its goal of producing 100-per-cent clean energy by 2025.

Brookfield holds a 4.9-per-cent stake in the company, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The move comes as the Calgary-based TransAlta faces pressure from investors Mangrove Partners and C. John Bluescape Energy Partners, which disclosed a 10-per-cent stake in the company this month and said they planned to push for changes including a potential board revamp. The deal with Brookfield had nothing to do with the activists knocking at its door and is in keeping with its strategy to transition to clean energy, Farrell said. Bloomberg Brookfield set to invest in Calgary utility YaDu huSSa TORONTO Newmont Mining Corp.

announced Monday it will pay its shareholders a dividend if it completes its acquisition of Vancouver-based Goldcorp Inc. The US88 cents dividend will cost Newmont roughly million in aggregate, and is pay able only if Newmont completes its Goldcorp deal. Tom Palmer, president and chief operating cer of Newmont, who is slated to become CEO later this year, said the dividend is meant to assuage investors who have criticized the deal. He said it reflects the fact Colorado-based Newmont negotiated its term sheet with Gold- corp, and then struck a major joint venture deal with Barrick Gold Corp to share assets in Nevada, that is projected to save billions of dollars over the next 20 years. is a unique set of said Palmer, he have an acquisition underway and then a (joint venture) in Nevada with The $470-million dividend payout will come directly from New- cash on hand, which was reported as billion at the end of 2018, not counting million in debt.

Palmer said the joint venture with Barrick provides billions of dollars in synergies that, theoretically, increase the value of New- mont, and many large shareholders have expressed concern that a large portion of that value is flowing through to Goldcorp shareholders. He said Newmont want to renegotiate the terms of the deal with Goldcorp because of risks; and also as Newmont delays taking over assets, Palmer said the dividend partly linked to the feedback we were getting from shareholders in terms of how to manage The move appeared to resonate with shareholders, with a spokesperson for U.S. billionaire John hedge fund, Paulson Co. saying Monday that although the dividend was it is a step in the right and that it no longer opposes the deal. Last week, Paulson, who has pledged to bring greater accountability to the gold sector, raised concerns that the price tag for the Goldcorp acquisition a nearly all-stock deal in which Goldcorp shareholders would receive 35 per cent of the combined company is too high and dilutive to Newmont shareholders.

In a letter to board released last week, Paulson was critical of the Goldcorp deal in general, noting that gold production and cash flows both decreased in 2018, and yet the Newmont buyout provides a 17-per-cent premium to the shareholders. They had argued that the value of the Barrick joint venture was being passed to Goldcorp shareholders, and that Goldcorp should receive less than 35 per cent of the newly combined company. Newmont elected to provide a onetime dividend to any shareholder as of April 17 rather than renegotiating the terms of its deal. Calculating how much value the Barrick joint venture will create for Newmont shareholders is a complex question: Barrick CEO Mark Bristow has claimed it would provide $4.7 billion in cost synergies over the next two decades, or about $500 million per year. Goldcorp shareholders are scheduled to vote on the acquisition on April 4 and Newmont votes on April 11.

Financial Post Newmont to pay dividend for Goldcorp pact Mark Bristow cannabis industry could see its first-mover advantage cut short if a piece of legislation that would open the U.S. banking sector to pot companies is eventually passed, some industry watchers say. The Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, which would protect U.S. banks working with pot firms from criminal scrutiny by regulators, is due to face a markup in front of the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday. That process, in which a congressional committee debates and amends proposed legislation before voting on the version of the bill that will be submitted to the House, is one of the final steps in a years-long campaign by marijuana activists to allow cannabis companies to gain full access to financial services everything from bank accounts, to lines of credit, to credit cards.

If that happens, some argue that Canadian pot firms will face intense competition from their American counterparts, who would finally have access to major lines of financing, enabling them grow quickly. advantage that the Canadians have had is more access to cheap capital. going to change overnight once this bill said Mitch Baruchowitz, managing partner at Merida Capital Partners LLC, a private equity firm heavily invested in the cannabis sector. multi-state operators like Acreage (Holdings Inc.) and Curaleaf are much bigger than most Canadian cannabis companies. I see the appetite for U.S.

banks to lend to most Canadian licensed producers over these multi-state Currently, most major U.S. banks and credit unions do not er banking services to cannabis companies or ancillary businesses related to the cannabis industry. of the reason Canadian companies have had a big advantage even though they too struggled to get basic things like loans and credit cards in the first few years is because of our capital markets. If now American companies get to accept their big loans, a source of money for them to really said Ranjeev Dhillon, Partner at McCarthy Cannabis Law Group. lot of American companies spend so much of their time hunting for money, finding capital.

going to change really quickly if you can just get a large line of financing. So going to see a lot more ciency, and a lot more Baruchowitz said. Baruchowitz also believes that the passage of the bill will have particularly negative impact on U.S.-listed Canadian pot companies like Tilray who have touted their first-mover advantage in being able to access American public markets. Many U.S. pot firms albeit larger ones have opted to list on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) in order to gain access to the Canadian public markets.

But the number of firms listed is substantially smaller than the total number of businesses involved directly or indirectly in the burgeoning American cannabis sector. course you can get loans from private investors. But in many cases, small businesses have access to angel investors. Allowing banks to make these loans will help to address the equity issues that arise specifically with communities running businesses who have access to powerful said Morgan Fox, spokesperson of the National Cannabis Industry Association, a lobbying group that has spent years rallying politicians to support the SAFE Act. Some banks like Wells Fargo Co.

however, have made it public that regardless of whether the SAFE Act passes in both the House and the Senate, they will continue denying financial services to marijuana companies until the plant is legal on a federal level. think you might still see some of the larger banks not wanting to touch cannabis believes Dhillon. Financial Post U.S. could seize pot edge Canadian pot firms will face intense competition from their American counterparts if the SAFE Act is passed, opening U.S. banking to cannabis firms.

Julio Cor AssoCiA Pres No amount of pressure would make this kind of (deal) come together. Want to have your say? Write 300 words or less and send them to windsorstar.com. CANADIAN ST AR TUPS NEED NEW ANGEL INVES TO RS In this age of disruption, we need to wo rk to gether to ensur et hat the ne xt tit ans ar ec re at ed in Canada. Fo llowthe InnovationNation seriesat innovation.financialpost.com WHATCANADIANCOMPANIESNEEDTOSURVIVEAND PROSPERINTHECUTTHROATGLOBALIDEASECONOMY INNO VA TIO NATION financialpost.com/features..