ATHLETICS
KatSurinlooksto
followinfather’s
footstepsontrack BBASEBALL
MarcusStromanjoining
Metswith‘nohardfeelings’
againstBlueJays BHOCKEY
DaleHunterfinallygets
shottoleadCanada
atworldjuniors BSPORTS
B10-BOTTAWA/QUEBECEDITION ■ TUESDAY,JULY30,2019 ■ GLOBEANDMAIL.COMS&P/TSX
16,492.
-38.DOW
27,221.
+28.S&P
3,020.
-4.NASDAQ
8,293.
-36.DOLLAR
75.99/1.
+0.13/-0.GCAN10-YR
1.47%
+0.OIL(WTI)
US$56.
+0.GOLD(oz.)
US$1,420.
+1.Blackstone Group Inc. and
Thomson Reuters Corp. will
have doubled the value of their
equity inRefinitiv Holdings Ltd.
in just 18 months if a takeover of
the financial data provider by
London Stock Exchange Group
PLCis completed.
LSEG and Thomson Reuters
said on the weekend they were
negotiating a deal that values Re-
finitiv at US$27-billion, including
debt. Refinitiv was created in
2018, when Thomson Reuters
sold a 55-per-cent stake in its fi-
nancial and risk division to
Blackstone, the U.S. private equi-
ty company. Blackstone and its
partners were making the bet
they could put more financial
terminals on bank, trading-
house and hedge-fund desks
around the world in competition
with Bloomberg LLC, the market
leader. Thomson Reuters finan-
cial results show Refinitiv had
debt and preferred shares of
about US$14-billion at the end of
2018, leaving equity value in the
potential deal of about $13-bil-
lion. Analysts say that pegs
Thomson Reuters’s equity in Re-
finitiv at US$6-billion, up from
US$3-billion when it announced
the deal with Blackstone and its
partners in January, 2018.
REFINITIV, BRefinitivdeal
woulddouble
valueof
Blackstone,
Thomson
Reutersstakes
JEFFREYJONES
MERGERSANDACQUISITIONS
REPORTER
CALGARYRogers Communications Inc.
has tapped former Facebook
Canada executive Jordan Banks
to lead the company’s media di-
vision.
Rogers Media president and
long-time Canadian television
executive Rick Brace is set to re-
tire at the end of the year, and
Mr. Banks will join the company
on Sept. 9, Rogers said on Mon-
day.
Rogers Media includes the
Citytv television network, more
than 50 radio stations, the
Sportsnet specialty channels and
website and the Toronto Blue
Jays baseball team.
Mr. Banks will bring 20 years
of experience with digital media
and technology, including seven
years as managing director of
Facebook and Instagram Canada,
to the role.
Rogers Media accounted for
more than $2-billion of the tele-
com giant’s $15-billion revenue
in 2018, but Mr. Banks will as-
sume leadership of a business in
transition as foreign digital gi-
ants continue to upend the con-
ventional broadcast and print
advertising model.
“It’s really about generational
change at the end of the day,”
said Kaan Yigit, president of To-
ronto-based consumer research
consultancy Solutions Research
Group, noting that Mr. Brace’s re-
tirement follows that of Scott
Moore, who stepped down as
president of Sportsnet last year.
ROGERS, BRogersnames
former
executive
toheadits
mediadivision
CHRISTINEDOBBY
TELECOMREPORTERBeyond Meat Inc.’sshares tum-
bled on Monday on plans for an-
other stock offering just three
months after its IPO even as de-
mand for its plant-based burgers
and sausages prompted an in-
crease in its full-year sales fore-
cast.
Trading was volatile and shares
fell more than 12 per cent after
hours on news of a 3.25-million-
share offering that includes three
million shares from selling stock-
holders.
Proceeds are earmarked to
raise funds to expand its manu-
facturing facilities that are being
stretched by booming demand for
its meat alternatives. Executives
on a call with analysts declined to
comment on the offering.
Beyond Meat’s shares have
surged more than 780 per cent
since the IPO in May as the com-
pany’s meat alternatives entered
the menus of restaurants such as
Carl’s Jr. and on shelves of grocers
including Kroger Co.
Plant-based meat alternatives
have seen booming interest from
consumers and restaurants, sup-
porting startups such as Beyond
Meat and its competitor Impossi-
ble Foods, and even sparking in-
terest from veteran meat compa-
nies such as Tyson Foods Inc. and
Perdue Foods, which now offer
meat protein products mixed
with plants.
“For another growth stock, the
top-line beat and raises would be
enough to see a postmarket rally,
but there are a lot of Beyond Meat
investors out there looking for
any excuse to sell a stock that has
rocketed so much since its IPO,”
said Kamal Khan, analyst at finan-
cial markets platform Investing-
.com.
Beyond Meat products are now
sold at more than 53,000 retailers
and restaurants worldwide, with
demand boosted by the grilling
season under way, Beyond Meat’s
CEO Ethan Brown said on Mon-
day.
At supermarket chain Morton
Williams, which owns 16 loca-
tions across New York, some cus-
tomers are buying Beyond Meat
burger patties and sausages by the
case, according to Victor Colello,
the chain’s director of meat and
fish.
“Beyond Meat is really flying
off the shelves. My business with
it has almost doubled and we’re
sold out at times,” Mr. Colello said.
The latest version of the burgers is
made from peas, brown rice, sun-
flower seeds and mung beans.
Net revenue rose nearly four-
fold to US$67.3-million ($88.6-
million) in the three months end-
ed June 29, above Wall Street’s es-
timate of US$52.71-million, ac-
cording to Refinitiv IBES data.
BEYONDMEAT,BBeyondMeatsharesdroponnew
stockofferingmonthsafterIPO
UDAYSAMPATHKUMAR
TINABELLON
ZACHDILGARD/COURTESYOFHBOAECONGROUP .......................................................B
BEYONDMEAT ........................................................B
CARGOJET...............................................................B
GILEADSCIENCES...................................................B
McDONALD’S..........................................................B
ONEX ......................................................................B
THOMSONREUTERS ...............................................B
TURQUOISEHILLRESOURCES................................B
WESTJETAIRLINES ..................................................BCOMPANIESMEDIA
LeBronJamestoexpandhisbusiness,
Uninterrupted,intoCanadawith
formerSportsnetpresident B[RESOURCES]Mongolianminesharpenscostfears
DelaysandgroundconditionshavesenttheconstructionpricetagforTurquoiseHill’s
copperprojectsoaring,bolsteringfearsaboutthesecto r’sabilitytocontrolcosts BBYAMBASURENBYAMBA-OCHIR/AFPThe federalgovernment has fired back
against airlines in a legal battle over its
new passenger rights law, saying it has the
authority to make rules on how the carri-
ers deal with delayed customers, cancelled
flights or lost baggage.
The Attorney-General of Canada, re-
sponding to an application by the airline
industry to overturn the new rules in the
Federal Court of Appeal, said the rules that
cover all carriers flying into, out of and
within Canada fall withinthe govern-
ment’s regulation-making authority, and
were written after extensive consultation.
The new regulations are going into ef-
fect in two stages – the first set is in force as
of July 15, while the second part kicks in on
Dec. 15. The rules set minimum compensa-
tion for delayed or bumped passengers
and lost luggage, in addition to limiting the
amount of time airlines can make boarded
passengers wait on the tarmac to three
hours.
The leave to appeal, filed by industry
group International Air Transport Associ-
ation, Air Canada, Porter Airlines and sev-eral foreign carriers, argues the standar-
dized compensation exceeds passengers’
actual losses, and that Canada does not
have the authority to impose regulations
on foreign airlines.
The court has not yet ruled if it will grant
the application to appeal the rules.
The Canadian Transportation Agency
wrote the regulations after being granted
authority by Transport Minister Marc Gar-
neau, who said in 2016 he would take steps
to address issues of safety, competitiveness
and customer experiences in the transport
industries under his watch.
AIRLINES,BInlegalbattle,Ottawasaysithas
authoritytomakerulesforairlines
ERICATKINS
TRANSPORTATIONREPORTER