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Il est de plus en plus question de sécurité quand vient le temps de parler des critères d’investissement ESG (environnementaux, sociaux et de gouvernance), fait remarquer l’ex-PDG de la Banque Nationale Louis Vachon, également observateur attentif de la chose militaire. La transformation considérable du portrait géopolitique mondial depuis quelques années rend assurément l’attitude du public plus favorable à l’égard des dépenses dans le secteur de la défense, estime celui qui est aujourd’hui associé chez J.C. Flowers & Co, une firme d’investissement de New York. Les politiques et restrictions ont changé, croit-il.
The European Union agreed to impose its toughest sanctions on Russia since its large-scale invasion of Ukraine, blocking attempts to revive the Nord Stream gas pipelines, lowering a price cap for Russian oil sales and hitting banks from third countries in a move that could exacerbate tensions with China. The sanctions package comes as President Trump has started increasing pressure on the Kremlin after months of seeking a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia. The White House now appears closer to the European view that the Kremlin won’t end the war. European capitals hope Washington will soon join them in tightening economic pressure on Moscow.
Railroad operator Union Pacific is exploring a deal to buy smaller rival Norfolk Southern the Wall Street Journal reported, in a merger that would bolster the industry leader's heft and likely draw intense regulatory scrutiny. Norfolk's shares rose 4.5% in extended trading on Thursday. The talks were at an early stage and there was no guarantee they would result in any deal or get regulatory approval, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter. Union Pacific declined a Reuters request for comment on the report, while Norfolk Southern did not immediately respond. The potential acquisition would create a railroad giant with a combined market value of roughly $200 billion, further consolidating an industry that has already shrunk from dozens of major carriers to just a handful over the past several decades.
The US Federal Trade Commission has set aside two Biden-era antitrust rulings, allowing John Hess and Scott Sheffield to join the boards of Chevron and ExxonMobil, reversing its previous stance on competition. The agency on Thursday unanimously overturned a January ruling that prohibited Hess’s appointment to Chevron’s board over concerns that he had offered “supportive messaging” to Opec representatives to keep oil prices high. It said the FTC’s original complaint had failed to prove an antitrust violation. A Chevron spokesperson said: “We are very pleased with the FTC’s unanimous decision. Mr Hess is a highly respected industry leader and our board would benefit from his global experience, relationships and expertise.”
Swatch Group’s profits plunged almost 90 per cent in the first half of the year after sales fell steeply in China, strengthening investor pushback against the board of the struggling Swiss watchmaker. The group, whose brands include Omega, Longines and Breguet, reported net income of SFr17mn ($21mn), down from SFr147mn a year earlier, on Thursday. Swatch attributed a 7.1 per cent decline in revenues over the same period to weak demand in China, where sales fell more than 30 per cent in its wholesale business and by 15 per cent in its retail business. Chief executive Nick Hayek, who has been at the helm of the Swiss group for 22 years, has come under mounting pressure from investors after presiding over a roughly 50 per cent decline in its shares over the past two years.
Canada’s international trade minister says that there was interest from both sides to advance trade talks with South American bloc Mercosur, as Ottawa seeks new deals in a push to diversify from the U.S. Prime Minister Mark Carney and his team have been locked in talks with U.S. President Donald Trump to hash out a trade deal by August 1, which could help reduce tariffs on Canada. But his government is also preparing to rely less on a relationship that generated bilateral trade of over $1 trillion (US$727.33 billion) last year and to focus on diversifying trade by signing free trade pacts globally. “I had conversations with the foreign minister of Brazil, and there is appetite to carry out conversations around Mercosur,” Minister Maninder Sidhu said in an interview with Reuters.
Railroad operator Union Pacific is holding talks to acquire its smaller rival Norfolk Southern in a deal that could create the largest rail operator in the country, according to people familiar with the matter. The talks are early stage and there are no guarantees they will result in any deal or receive regulatory signoff, the people said. It is also possible another suitor could emerge. Union Pacific has a market value of around $140 billion, while Norfolk is valued at about $60 billion. Shares of Norfolk jumped 3% in after-hours trading following The Wall Street Journal report, while Union Pacific shares fell around 2%. The deal would create a sprawling rail network that spans the continent and handles a sizable share of freight across the U.S. Currently, no railroad operator has a network that runs coast to coast in the U.S.
The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill to create a regulatory framework for U.S.-dollar-pegged cryptocurrency tokens known as stablecoins, sending the bill to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it into law. The vote marks a watershed moment for the digital asset industry, which has been pushing for federal legislation for years and poured money into last year’s elections to promote pro-crypto candidates. House lawmakers also passed two other crypto bills, sending them next to the Senate for consideration. One lays out a regulatory framework for crypto, and the other would ban the U.S. from issuing a central bank digital currency.
Mark Zuckerberg ainsi que plusieurs figures du secteur technologique américain, qui occupent ou occupaient des fonctions au sein de Facebook (devenu Meta), ont conclu un accord pour mettre un terme à un procès pour négligence lié à l’affaire Cambridge Analytica. La transaction, rapportée jeudi à l’AFP par deux sources proches du dossier, est intervenue au lendemain de l’ouverture des débats devant un tribunal de Wilmington, au Delaware. Des actionnaires de Facebook, devenu depuis Meta, avaient saisi la justice civile américaine en 2018 après l’éclatement du scandale Cambridge Analytica.
La Banque du Canada et la plupart des autres sociétés d’État fédérales chercheront à réduire leurs budgets, parallèlement à un effort gouvernemental plus large de réduction des coûts. Un porte-parole de la Banque du Canada a confirmé dans une déclaration que la banque centrale « entend s’aligner sur l’esprit et les objectifs » des plans de réduction des coûts du gouvernement libéral. La Banque du Canada est une société d’État responsable de la politique monétaire au Canada, mais elle fonctionne de manière indépendante et est financée par ses propres activités, et non directement par l’argent des contribuables. Les ministres sont invités à réaliser des économies de 7,5 % sur les dépenses de fonctionnement de leurs ministères à compter de l’exercice 2026. Ces réductions devraient atteindre 15 % au cours des trois prochaines années.
La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec a procédé à un subtil changement de nom : de CDPQ, son appellation officielle depuis quelques années, elle devient La Caisse. Trois agences ont été impliquées dans ce changement de nom qui a coûté un peu plus de 368 000 $. La porte-parole de La Caisse précise, dans un courriel, que ce sont des firmes québécoises qui ont contribué à ce renouveau, soit Cossette, LG2 et Robic, cette dernière n’ayant fait que l’enregistrement juridique de la marque. La valeur de ce contrat était de moins de 30 000 $. Cossette et LG2 se sont partagé le gros du travail, la première ayant fait toute la partie recherche, les recommandations et l’architecture de marque (valeur du contrat : 172 479 $) et la seconde s’étant davantage concentrée sur la création et le développement de la nouvelle marque ainsi que sur sa stratégie de déploiement (167 571 $).
China’s government is threatening to block a deal that would transfer ownership of dozens of seaports to Western investors if Cosco, China’s largest shipping company, doesn’t get a stake. The proposed sale includes two ports at the Panama Canal and more than 40 others around the world, all owned by Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison. China is pushing for state-owned Cosco to be an equal partner and shareholder of the ports with BlackRock and Mediterranean Shipping Co., a containership operator, according to people familiar with the deal talks. BlackRock and MSC in March reached a preliminary agreement to buy the ports in a deal valued at nearly $23 billion. Now, BlackRock, MSC and Hutchison all are open to Cosco’s taking a stake, the people familiar with the talks said.
Starwood Property Trust (STWD.N), opens new tab said on Wednesday it would acquire real estate operating platform Fundamental Income Properties for about $2.2 billion. The deal — which consists of 467 properties across 44 states — will be funded with cash on hand, alongside debt and equity capital, with Starwood assuming Fundamental's existing financing facilities totaling $1.3 billion. Shares of Starwood Property — an affiliate of investment firm Starwood Capital Group led by its billionaire founder Barry Sternlicht, fell about 3% in extended trading. The commercial mortgage real estate investment trust has a market capitalization of about $7 billion. Fundamental, owned by Brookfield Asset Management (BAM.TO), opens new tab, focuses on acquiring commercial properties for sale-leaseback deals.
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Chaque dimanche, nous braquons les projecteurs sur des éléments de l’actualité financière et boursière qui peuvent être utiles à l’investisseur, mais qui pourraient être passés sous le radar
Le producteur québécois d’énergie renouvelable Boralex a perdu un appui sur Bay Street vendredi. Le Canadien National a gagné l’appui de Raymond James cette semaine. L’analyste Steve Hansen recommande depuis jeudi l’achat de l’action du transporteur ferroviaire montréalais. Bombardier et AtkinsRéalis quitteront cet été l’indice MSCI des titres canadiens de petites capitalisations pour être ajoutés à l’indice MSCI Canada, selon la Scotia. L’analyste Jean-Michel Gauthier s’attend à ce que ce rééquilibrage se confirme le mois prochain. Les titres de Bombardier et d’AtkinsRéalis affichent de fortes hausses jusqu’ici cette année.
As AI becomes autonomous, it will impact board oversight, regulatory compliance, and risk exposure. The artificial intelligence landscape is undergoing a fundamental transformation that demands attention from corporate boards. While traditional AI systems have functioned as tools for automation with human oversight, agentic AI systems, or technology that operates with unprecedented autonomy, has emerged. These systems do not just follow instructions; they set goals, make decisions, and take actions independently. For the boardroom, this shift presents unprecedented governance challenges.
BP has agreed to sell its U.S. onshore wind business to U.S.-based power grid operator LS Power, as part of its ongoing divestment strategy, the energy major said on Friday, without disclosing a deal value. BP has come under criticism from investors for its underperformance in recent months, leading to a strategy revamp with promises to cut debt, increase cash flow and a major pivot back to oil and gas after an ill-fated foray into renewables. The company is targeting $3 billion to $4 billion in disposals by the end of this year. It has pledged to divest $20 billion worth of assets by 2027 under CEO Murray Auchincloss' plans. "The absence of consideration in the press release is unusual given the potential size of the transaction," HSBC analyst Kim Fustier said.
Reckitt has sold its Essential Home cleaning products business to private equity firm Advent International at an enterprise value of up to $4.8bn, as the consumer goods group moves to refocus its portfolio on faster-growing brands. Reckitt will retain a 30 per cent stake in the division under the terms of the deal agreed with Advent. The FTSE 100 company plans to return about $2.2bn of the sale proceeds to shareholders via a special dividend. Reckitt’s shares rose 2 per cent in early trading on Friday. The process to sell the division — which includes brands such as Cillit Bang and Air Wick — was complicated by the market volatility unleashed by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs in the spring.
Le Syndicat des travailleurs et travailleuses des postes (STTP) exhorte les travailleurs à rejeter la dernière offre de Postes Canada. La présidente nationale du syndicat, Jan Simpson, affirme qu’un vote négatif fort permettrait non seulement de rejeter l’offre, mais aussi de protéger l’intégrité du processus de négociation. Le Conseil canadien des relations industrielles tiendra un vote sur l’entente proposée à compter de la semaine prochaine. Postes Canada se trouve dans une impasse avec le syndicat qui représente environ 55 000 travailleurs des postes après plus d’un an et demi de négociations. Le mois dernier, la ministre fédérale de l’Emploi, Patty Hajdu, a demandé au Conseil d’intervenir et de soumettre la dernière offre de la société d’État au vote.
The longtime leader of trucking and logistics company ArcBest, Judy McReynolds, plans to retire at the end of the year. ArcBest on Thursday said McReynolds, 63 years old, will retire Dec. 31 and be succeeded by Seth Runser, the company’s president. McReynolds will stay on as chairman. ArcBest is one of the nation’s largest trucking companies. It provides truckload services as well as less-than-truckload options, in which cargo from multiple shippers is combined in a single trailer. It has also been developing new technologies that help with freight movement. The company has a market capitalization of roughly $1.8 billion and reported revenue last year of $4.2 billion.
An arbitration panel cleared the way for Chevron to complete its $53 billion purchase of Hess, dismissing Exxon Mobil’s claim that it had a contractual right to bid for Hess’s crown-jewel assets in Guyana. The ruling handed down Friday from the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris resolves an often tense and long-running dispute between the two largest descendants of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil monopoly over one of the world’s most coveted oil projects. Chevron originally struck the deal for Hess in October 2023. Exxon threw a wrench in Chevron’s plans last year when it asserted a right to pre-empt its rival’s bid for Hess’s 30% stake in Guyana’s prolific Stabroek offshore block. Chevron had argued a right-of-first-refusal on the Guyana project wouldn’t apply to the corporate takeover of Hess.
Norway’s Grieg Seafood ASA has signed an agreement to sell its businesses in B.C., Newfoundland and Finnmark, Norway, to Mitsubishi-owned Cermaq for 10.2-billion kroner ($1.3-billion). The deal marks the Canadian exit of a major player in the sector just over one year after Fisheries and Oceans Canada announced the shutdown of B.C.’s open net-pen salmon farms by June 30, 2029. Grieg Seafood will focus its business in Norway. “We aim to continue to be a strong actor in the advancement of sustainable aquaculture in Norway,” Nina Willumsen Grieg, chief executive officer of Grieg Seafood, said in a company press release. For Cermaq, the deal is a bet on Canada’s aquaculture industry, and a bid to stay competitive in an increasingly consolidated global market.
L’Union européenne se prépare à cibler le secteur des services américains, dont la « tech », en cas d’échec des négociations commerciales avec Washington sur les droits de douane, ont dit des diplomates européens jeudi à l’AFP. Donald Trump a pris les Européens de court le week-end dernier en décrétant des droits de douane de 30 % sur toutes les importations en provenance de l’UE à compter du 1er août. L’Europe a encore l’espoir de trouver une solution négociée avec les États-Unis avant cette échéance, mais prépare sa riposte dans le cas contraire. Avions, voitures, bourbon… : elle a déjà établi une liste de produits qu’elle pourrait taxer.
La Chambre des représentants a adopté jeudi la première loi américaine de régulation des cryptomonnaies, une étape majeure pour le développement de ce marché aux États-Unis et au-delà, tandis que deux autres textes relatifs au secteur ont également été validés. Le CLARITY Act, qui doit maintenant être examiné par le Sénat, dote les États-Unis d’un cadre réglementaire plus clair, conformément aux souhaits du gouvernement de Donald Trump, très favorable à cette industrie. Cette loi fait partie d’un ensemble de trois textes examinés jeudi par la chambre basse du Congrès américain, une rupture après
La saga 7–Eleven n’est peut-être pas terminée. Alimentation Couche-Tard souhaite toujours boucler une transaction et l’annonce du retrait de son offre d’achat pour Seven & i pourrait bien être une façon de mettre de la pression sur le conglomérat japonais en montrant que Couche-Tard n’est pas acheteur à tout prix, commente François Watier, associé et analyste pour le gestionnaire d’actifs montréalais Van Berkom. « Si c’est le cas, on verra bien la suite », ajoute-t-il. C’est maintenant au tour des actionnaires de Seven & i, y compris l’investisseur militant américain Artisan Partners, de mettre de la pression sur le conseil d’administration de Seven & i, affirme le gestionnaire de portefeuille montréalais Philippe Hynes, de la firme Tonus Capital.
Uber will invest $300 million in electric vehicle maker Lucid in a robotaxi deal that aims to start with one major U.S. city late next year, the companies said on Thursday. Over six years starting in 2026, Uber will acquire and deploy over 20,000 Lucid Gravity SUVs that will be equipped with autonomous vehicle (AV) technology from startup Nuro, the three companies said in a statement. The agreement illustrates the renewed plans and push for financing for self-driving cabs years after a first wave of autonomous driving investment produced only a limited number of vehicles. Tesla has recently launched a robotaxi trial in Austin and Alphabet's driverless taxi unit Waymo is speeding up its expansion.
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