Signature Resorts

http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/44404-province-invest-31m-resorts

Province of NS is investing $3.1 mil in its 3 Signature Resorts:  Digby Pines, Keltic Lodge and Liscombe Lodge.  Finally!  Maybe the work will include something radical, like WiFi throughout the property!

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Another A&E deal

http://www.dcnonl.com/article/id48052/–genivar-joins-forces-with-ae-consultants-of-st-johnrsquos-newfoundland

Montreal-based Genivar (TSX:GNV) has made another Atlantic acquisition, this time in Newfoundland & Labrador.  AE Consultants is an architecture and engineering firm based in St. John’s.

Moore family buys the Oceanstone Inn

http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/41174-family-hopes-put-new-resort-map

Halifax entrepreneur Tim Moore & family have acquired the Oceanstone Inn & Cottages near Peggy’s Cove, and have big renovation and expansion plans.

Shareholder litigation up dramatically in US M&A

http://www.thedeal.com/magazine/ID/043019/commentary/the-dramatic-increase-in-m&a-litigation.php

This article in The Deal Magazine on the rise in shareholder litigation in public company deals is interesting.  In 1999, 12% of public company deals attracted shareholder litigation, while in 2010 this rose to 85%.

“In the 1990s, only large deals or those involving an obvious potential conflict drew litigation, but now there are shareholder suits on mergers worth less than $100 million and on those in which the target has been fully shopped by an independent board that strikes an arms’ length agreement with a third party.”

Definitely a sign of the litigious world we now live in, especially in the US.  However, I have witnessed an increase in litigation involving private company M&A deals in Atlantic, although not to the same extent as the research data quoted above.  Of course, public companies have additional governance, etc issues, particularly with regards to minority shareholders, but this doesn’t mean that disputes over private company deals don’t happen … anytime you have a buyer and a seller motivated to interpret deal terms to their advantage, there are bound to be disputes.

NL utility services deal

http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/39692-emera-buys-nl-maintenance-firm

Halifax-based Emera Utility Services announced the purchase of Green’s Service Station in NL, a transmission line maintenance and construction business based in Goobies, NL.  EUS is part of the Emera group (including NS Power and Bangor Hydro, among others).

Another example of a “mainland” firm acquiring in NL in order to access the growing market in Newfoundland and Labrador.