acquisition

ALGONQUIN POWER & UTILITIES CORP. $10.72 (Toronto symbol AQN; Shares outstanding: 255.8 million; Market cap: $2.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 4.8%; www.algonquinpower.com) has tripled in size in the past three years, mostly through acquisitions. The company’s regulated utility businesses now provide water, electricity and gas to over 560,000 customers, up sharply from 120,000 three years ago. Its hydroelectric, thermal energy, solar and wind plants generate 1,050 megawatts, up from 460. Emera (Toronto symbol EMA) owns 20.9% of Algonquin. It is a recommendation of The Successful Investor, our conservative growth advisory....

INNERGEX RENEWABLE ENERGY $13.82 (Toronto symbol INE; Shares outstanding: 104.0 million; Market cap: $1.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield 4.6%; www.innergex.com) has acquired eight wind power projects in northern France from a German company for $137 million. The purchase includes seven operating plants with 87 megawatts of generating capacity, plus a 44-megawatt project now under construction. All power generated at the eight plants is already sold under long-term power-purchase contracts averaging 13 years in length. The acquisition is Innergex’s first in Europe. It sees France as a big growth market and plans to buy or build more plants....

SUN LIFE FINANCIAL $41.71 (Toronto symbol SLF; Shares outstanding: 612.3 million; Market cap: $25.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.7%; www.sunlife.ca) sells life insurance, savings, retirement and pension products to individuals and corporations. The company has $891.3 billion of assets under management and mainly operates in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. It’s also expanding in Asia. In the three months ended December 31, 2015, Sun Life’s earnings per share rose 7.4%, to $0.87 from $0.81. The company continues to diversify in the U.S. At the same time, it’s focusing on highly profitable niche markets with low capital requirements....

TRANSCANADA CORP. $49.18 (Toronto symbol TRP; Shares outstanding: 709.0 million; Market cap: $34.3 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.6%; www.transcanada.com) has run into difficulties lately in gaining approvals for new pipelines, including Energy East in Canada and Keystone XL in the U.S. However, the company has moved forward with its proposed acquisiton of Texas-based Columbia Pipeline Group (New York symbol GPCX) for $13 billion U.S. This is a big purchase for TransCanada, which has a market cap of $35.4 billion (Canadian)....

PEMBINA PIPELINE $34.61 (Toronto symbol PPL; Shares outstanding: 373.4 million; Market cap: $12.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 5.0%; www.pembina.com) owns pipelines that carry half of Alberta’s conventional oil and almost all of B.C.’s oil. It also carries 30% of Western Canada’s natural gas liquids (NGLs). Pembina owns extensive facilities to extract, process and store NGLs, as well as natural gas processing plants. In the three months ended December 31, 2015, the company’s cash flow per share jumped 57.0%, to $0.77 from $0.49 a year earlier. New plants starting up boosted volumes at its NGL extraction business....

INNERGEX RENEWABLE ENERGY $13.82 (Toronto symbol INE; Shares outstanding: 104.0 million; Market cap: $1.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield 4.6%; www.innergex.com) has acquired eight wind power projects in northern France from a German company for $137 million. The purchase includes seven operating plants with 87 megawatts of generating capacity, plus a 44-megawatt project now under construction. All power generated at the eight plants is already sold under long-term power-purchase contracts averaging 13 years in length. The acquisition is Innergex’s first in Europe. It sees France as a big growth market and plans to buy or build more plants....

SUN LIFE FINANCIAL $41.71 (Toronto symbol SLF; Shares outstanding: 612.3 million; Market cap: $25.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.7%; www.sunlife.ca) sells life insurance, savings, retirement and pension products to individuals and corporations. The company has $891.3 billion of assets under management and mainly operates in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. It’s also expanding in Asia. In the three months ended December 31, 2015, Sun Life’s earnings per share rose 7.4%, to $0.87 from $0.81. The company continues to diversify in the U.S. At the same time, it’s focusing on highly profitable niche markets with low capital requirements....

Stronger sales and earnings will help Leon’s Furniture Ltd. take over Sears Home locations in B.C. and build on its acquisition of The Brick.

CALIAN GROUP LTD., $18.26, symbol CTY on Toronto, is the new name of Calian Technologies effective today. The company will also change its stock symbol to CGY from CTY on April 5, 2016. Calian is making the name change because of its expansion into new areas such as healthcare through its Business and Technology Services unit. That subsidiary supplies 70% of Calian’s revenue and provides corporate clients with engineers, health care workers and other skilled professionals on a contract basis. The company’s Systems Engineering business (30% of revenue) sells hardware and software for testing, operating and managing satellite and other communication systems....

TRANSCANADA CORP., $49.59, Toronto symbol TRP, recently agreed to buy Texas-based Columbia Pipeline Group (New York symbol GPCX) for $13 billion U.S. That’s equal to 48% of its market cap of $35.1 billion (Canadian). Columbia operates natural gas pipelines in the U.S. Northeast, Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Gulf Coast regions, as well as underground gas storage terminals. To help pay for this acquisition, TransCanada has sold 96.6 million subscription receipts at $45.75 a share for total proceeds of $4.4 billion. Each receipt will convert to one common share when TransCanada completes the Columbia acquisition, probably by the end of 2016. If it fails to complete the acquisition, the funds will be returned to the subscribers. In the meantime, the holders of these receipts will receive the same dividends as holders of the company’s common shares....