Mark Kolke visits with interesting Calgarians - to catch a glimpse of what drives them, how they see the world and what they see in Calgary's future - and shares what caught his attention.
+ Prince al-Waleed bin Talal, the flamboyant Saudi whose Kingdom Holdings Company owns high end hotels, and large stakes in Citigroup, News Corp and Apple has launched a lawsuit against Forbes Magazine for understating his net worth at $20 billion, claiming that amount is $9.6 billion too low. Boo hoo!
SAVE THE DATE /
charity golf tournaments
+ Aug. 15; Ordinary Joe’s Country Golf Tournament, Sirocco Golf Club, info/registration
+ Aug. 20; Alberta Venture’s 2013 Most Influential Tournament, Silvertip Golf Resort, Canmore, info/register
+ Aug. 26; Women’s Celebrity Golf Invitational, Pinebrook Golf and Country Club, info/registration
+ Calgary city council voted to use this year’s provincial its $52 million/yr. tax hike accounting windfall against flood recovery costs; debate on use of future year’s funds postponed until after this fall’s civic election
+ Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board agreed to buy $480 million stake in Brazil’s Ailansce Shopping Centers SA
+ Genesis Land Development Corporation adopted a Shareholder Rights Plan and Advanced Notice By-law
+ Hudson Bay Company agreed to acquire Saks Fifth Avenue retail stores and its real estate for $2.9 billion; will open stand-alone Saks stores in Canada to compete with Nordstrom and as store-within-a-store in some Bay stores
+ JPMorgan Chase & Co. on verge of exiting physical commodities trading on heels of regulators investigating trading irregularities; likely to re-focus is physical oil trading arm, exit electricity markets
+ National Energy Board issues its ‘list of issues’ for Kinder Morgan’s TransMountain Pipelines Expansion Project approval process
+ Tallgrass Energy Corp. went into receivership
NEWS REVIEW July 23 - 29
+ Alberta Flood Recovery Guarantee program launched to help flood affected businesses; banks will lend, Alberta will backstop as well as subsidize interest rates
+ Brookfield Asset Management Inc. completed raising funds for its $4.4 billion global real estate fund, started during the financial crisis, originally targeted at $3.5 billion
+ Brookfield Office Properties announced Cenovus as anchor tenant (1 million sq. ft.) for 1.4 million sq. ft. east tower of its Brookfield Place Project to be built at 225 – 6th Ave. SW; occupancy in 2017
+ Calgary census – population now 1,149,552 (increase of 29,327 over 2012)
+ Chinese government ordered a nationwide audit of all government debt underlying fears economic slowdown might impact their financial sector
+ Canadian Natural Resources (CNRL) battling leak from a SAGD operation on the PrimroseAirWeaponsRange; steam injection ceased, 6,000 barrels of bitumen leaked
+ CNRL confirmed its agreement to acquire Barrick Energy Inc. for $173 million
+ Empire Company Ltd, announced it will, upon acquiring Safeway, sell 68 Safeway properties ( 27 in Alberta, 11 in Calgary) to Crombie REIT for $990 million
+ Enbridge announced it will build the Woodland Pipeline Extension project at a cost of $1.3 billion (Enbridge to contribute 50%) to moved Kearl (Imperial Oil and ExxonMobil) oil sands production from the Enbridge Cheecham Terminal to the Enbridge Edmonton Terminal
+ Genesis Land Development Corp. facing shareholder battle for board control
+ Government of Alberta announced an allocation of crown land for a 55,000 acre expansion to Fort McMurray to provide for residential and commercial development needs for the next 25 years
+ Horizon North Logistics Inc. awarded contract to provide a new – 325 person camp; project value $46 million
+ Livingston International agreed to acquire Advantex Express Inc.
+ MasterBUILT Hotels broke ground on its $55 million hotel project in Seton near the new SouthCalgaryHospital campus; to be flagged as Marriott Courtyard and Residence Inn
+ Mullen Group Ltd. increased its 2013 CapEx Budget by $20 million
+ Premier Redford wrangling insurance industry executives over flood coverage; insurance industry estimates losses at $1.3 billion, the Premier says $3 billion .. stay tuned because this dispute is far from resolved
+ Precision Drilling Corp. increased its 2013 CapEx Buget from $121 million to $654 million to cover cost of new rigs
+ SAC Capital Advisors, insider-trading charges continue to fly at hedge fund, SEC continues to investigate AFTER having already getting consent agreement to a $616 million fine
+ Sprott Inc. concluded its consolidation with Sprott Resource Lending
+ Tanager Energy Inc. is the new name of MGOLD Resources Inc.
+ Titan Logix Corp. adopted a Shareholder Rights Plan
+ City of Calgary flood restoration of city infrastructure estimated at $500 million . . .
+ The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) is moving into the next stage of selecting a supplier for the Fort McMurray West 500 kV Transmission Project; AESO have been at this since 2010 and have now, finally, published their competitive process, “designed to maximize efficiency and provide downward pressure on transmission costs”; RFQ to conclude Dec. 2013, five short-listed proponents will get a crack at the RFP with a contract award planned by end of 2014. The competitive process document is the result of an Alberta Utilities Commission order that it be created. One has to wonder about costs when something as obvious as a clear transparent process was developed so late and only after a regulator ordered it . . . and we wonder why power costs have spiked!
+ Infrastructure Ontarioshort-listed 3 groups ; 3 new children’s treatment centres in Brampton, Mississauga and Oakville. RFP to be issued this fall
+ Government of Alberta announced an allocation of crown land for a 55,000 acre expansion to Fort McMurray to provide for residential and commercial development needs for the next 25 years
+ HighRiver evacuees have been accommodated in a temporary neighbourhood dubbed ‘Saddlebrook’; when at full capacity it will accommodate 1,200 residents while their long-term housing needs are addressed. Meanwhile, the HighRiverHospital is re-opening in phases as repairs are completed.
+ Bella Concert Hall at Mount Royal University running behind and over budget; MRU is borrowing $15 million shortfall from the province, completion in spring 2015
QUOTES
“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.” – Edgar Allan Poe
“Each friend represents a world in us, a world not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” – Anaïs Nin
FACILITYCalgary published Tuesday morning
VITAL SIGNS SURVEY - help The Calgary Foundation
+ each year The Calgary Foundation takes our temperature; surveying how we view quality of life in Calgary. Please take a few minutes to respond – click here. Survey response date extended - closed today, July 30, report will be published October 1.
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+ Ivanhoé Cambridge acquired 50% interest in Carrefour de l'Estrie in Sherbrooke from Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) which will continue to own 50% of the shopping centre
