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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: hello 5i:;
I've just sold SIA; had held since 2016 and about a 4% weighting. Looking for something in the Health Care space, hopefully with a good dividend. Would like something like PFE:US, but as its going into a TFSA, the withholding tax is not exactly enamoring. Any suggestions? Doesn't have to be Health Care, but should be a good stable dividend growth stock. The portfolio is well balanced at the present time.
Read Answer Asked by Paul on May 29, 2020
Q: DOC Can you give me a summary of your views of this company
Can you also provide some technical analysis for this company? For example: The amount of Debt its carrying, etc.
Read Answer Asked by Michael on May 29, 2020
Q: SONA Sona Nanotechnology does not come up in your company database. This company is outside my normal purview but it has created a rapid detection test for COVID antibodies that has recently received some attention and its stock has increased dramatically. Can you tell me anything about this firm? Does the test have potential? Is its basic business producing gold nanorods (whatever they are) show promise? Is this an investible company? Any information would be helpful.

Appreciate your insight.

Paul F.

Read Answer Asked by Paul on May 29, 2020
Q: The federal government has made resent announcements about buying PPE from China and USA and just today of a large contract to purchase masks from General Motors but nothing of purchasing the products from Canadian based Alpha Pro. The stock had a large jump end of Feb but in the short term is trading 12-14 range. Appears to have a solid balance sheet; and CFRA has a Strong Buy recommendation.
What is the teams opinion of APT?
Thanks Douglas
Read Answer Asked by Douglas on May 28, 2020
Q: DOC Could I have your appraisal of this co please. Surprised to see no questions yet on this. Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Mike on May 28, 2020
Q: Good morning 5i team,
What is you opinion of the sale of Torstar for .63 /share. It appears to be below cash on hand and below book value of the company. Only Vertical Scope has BV of $115.3 million . Why would Fairfax support the deal when they paid a much higher price for their 40% and be willing to take a massive loss ?? Something does not feel right about this transaction.
Thanks,
George
George
Read Answer Asked by George on May 28, 2020
Q: Is this transaction a little unethical when the President of Fairfax builds up a 40% position in Torstar and at the same time involved in a private company and now the same company has offered to take it private? This arrangement does not seem to be fair to Fairfax shareholders?

The company that owns the Toronto Star and more than 70 other newspapers agreed to be taken private by two prominent Canadian business families.
NordStar Capital LP, controlled by the Rivett and Bitove families, will acquire Torstar Corp. for 63 Canadian cents a share in cash, according to a statement released Tuesday night. Based on about 81 million class A and B shares outstanding, the deal values Torstar at roughly $51 million. The offer represents a 58 per cent premium to the closing price on Tuesday.
The deal represents the end of an era for one of Canada’s largest newspapers, which has been controlled by a voting trust of several Toronto families for decades. Torstar has been unable to turn around years of steady losses in advertising revenue and circulation. The shares have fallen 77 per cent since the end of 2017.
The proposal has the support of Torstar’s board and its largest independent shareholder, Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Torstar Chief Executive Officer John Boynton is expected to continue in his role following the deal and former Ontario Premier David Peterson will serve as vice chair, the companies said. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter.
Paul Rivett was a senior executive at Fairfax, a Toronto-based insurance and investment holding company, when it built its 40 per cent stake in Torstar’s Class B shares. He announced his retirement from the firm in February.

Jordan Bitove is a partner at private equity firm Spectrum Capital Partners in Toronto. His family was part of the ownership group that brought the Toronto Raptors basketball franchise to the city in the 1990s.
Read Answer Asked by fwb181 on May 27, 2020