The Successful Investor Hotline – Friday, July 10, 2015

Article Excerpt

FORTIS INC., $36.28, Toronto symbol FTS, began supplying electricity to St. John’s, Newfoundland, in 1885. The company is now the main power utility in Newfoundland and PEI. As part of diversification plan, Fortis acquired other power utilities in other parts of Canada, as well as in the U.S. and Caribbean. It also invested in office buildings and hotels. The company now wants to focus on its highly successful utilities. As a result, it recently sold its commercial real estate operations for $430 million. This business’s properties, located in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, included 10 office buildings, one mixed-use office complex and three shopping centres. This week, Fortis agreed to sell its 22 hotels in seven provinces to a group of private investors for $365 million. It expects to complete the sale in the next few weeks. Proceeds from these sales will help Fortis pay for its plan to invest $9 billion in its operations between 2015 and 2019. That’s almost…