Rogers and Bell are challenging billionaire Larry Tanenbaum’s planned sale of a stake in the parent company of hockey’s Toronto Maple Leafs and basketball’s Toronto Raptors to a pension plan, potentially initiating a multiyear battle for control of a sports empire.
Last month, Tanenbaum notified Rogers and BCE, the parent company of Bell, that he planned to raise $400-million by selling a 20-per-cent stake in a family-controlled holding company, Kilmer Sports Inc., to the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System pension plan. Kilmer Sports owns 25 per cent of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, and Tanenbaum is MLSE’s chairman. Rogers and Bell evenly split the remaining 75 per cent through a jointly owned holding company.
Bell and Rogers raised questions about the proposed sale in a joint letter they sent Tanenbaum this week, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Tanenbaum’s deal with OMERS puts a higher valuation on his MLSE stake than Rogers or Bell anticipated, according to sources at both telecom companies. It also complicates MLSE’s ownership structure ahead of the potential buyout. Both Rogers and Bell use their ownership of sports teams to build their brands and promote their wireless and wireline services.
Rogers and Bell are challenging billionaire Larry Tanenbaum’s planned sale of a stake in the parent company of hockey’s Toronto Maple Leafs and basketball’s Toronto Raptors to a pension plan.Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press
This is the daily Morning Update newsletter. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for Morning Update and more than 20 other Globe newsletters on our newsletter signup page.
Stellantis, LG reach new EV battery plant deal for up to $15-billion in subsidies from Ottawa, Ontario
Stellantis and LG Energy Solution have reached a new deal with the federal and Ontario governments for up to $15-billion in subsidies for their electric-vehicle battery factory in Windsor, ending a months-long saga in which the companies halted construction on the project while they pushed for greater subsidies.
Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli told The Globe and Mail on Wednesday that Ontario will foot one-third of the bill as planned, calling the agreement a “historic new auto pact” that recognizes the challenges posed by the Inflation Reduction Act in the U.S.
News of the resumption of construction at the facility, which the companies say will create about 2,500 jobs, was quickly welcomed by organized labour.
Case against Iran over downed airliner referred to International Court of Justice
The case against Iran over the shooting down of a Ukrainian airliner carrying 138 people destined for Canada has been brought before the International Court of Justice. On Jan. 8, 2020, Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 crashed a few minutes after takeoff from a Tehran airport after being hit by two surface-to-air missiles.
All 176 people on board were killed, including 55 Canadians, 30 permanent residents as well as students destined for Canadian universities. The documents filed with the court state that Iran failed to conduct a proper criminal investigation, withheld or destroyed evidence, held a “sham or opaque trial” and harassed the families of victims as they sought justice. Iran does not appear to have filed a response to the application.
Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop
Also on our radar
Justin Trudeau blames Conservatives as talks on launching public inquiry into foreign interference drag on: The Prime Minister blamed the Conservatives Wednesday when asked why the government had not yet set up an inquiry. He suggested the Official Opposition was blocking matters from proceeding, while Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called the comments “unequivocally false.”
El Niño, the climate wild card, is back. Scientists are racing to predict its impact on Canada: Scientists are trying to anticipate what El Niño, which already amplifies severe weather events around the world, might do to an ever-warming planet.
Wagner chief Prigozhin is in Russia, president of Belarus says: After saying last week that Prigozhin was in Belarus, Lukashenko told international reporters Thursday that the mercenary leader was in St. Petersburg and Wagner’s troops were still at their camps.
Provinces falling short of national long-term care standards, report finds: According to the National Institute on Ageing, only 25 out of the 117 criteria laid out in the new national standards were met by all provinces and territories as of Dec. 22. Not a single province or territory fully met the new standard.
As Israel ends two-day West Bank offensive, Palestinian residents emerge to scenes of vast destruction: Residents of the Jenin refugee camp emerged from their homes and returned from nearby shelters after the most intense Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank in nearly two decades. It is unclear whether the offensive will result in reduced Israeli-Palestinian violence. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said similar missions would take place in the future.
Morning markets
World stocks fell for a third straight day, after Federal Reserve meeting minutes bolstered bets on another U.S. rate hike this month and trade salvos between China and the United States also dampened sentiment.
In early trading, Britain’s benchmark FTSE index touched a more than three-month low and was down 1.23 per cent, while Germany’s DAX slid 0.98 per cent and France’s CAC 40 dropped 1.51 per cent.
The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong tumbled more than 3 per cent overnight to 18,533.05 and Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.7 per cent to 32,773.02, having recently hit a 33-year high.
The Canadian dollar traded at 75.23 U.S. cents.
What everyone’s talking about
Canada’s cities need to get to the tippling point
“Parks and other outdoor spaces are the backyards of the growing number of urban Canadians who have neither lawn nor balcony. If you can sit outside your home having a drink, your apartment-dwelling fellow citizens should be able to do the same.” - The Editorial Board
The Waterloo attack is part of a broader trend of hatred for academia itself
“Gender studies are viewed on the right as ground zero for not just feminism but also the fuzzily defined concept of ‘gender ideology.’ Their thinking is that were it not for gender studies, and its concept of a divide between gender identity and biological sex, we’d still be in a world where, to quote 1970s sitcom patriarch Archie Bunker, ‘girls were girls and men were men.’” - Phoebe Maltz Bovy
Today’s editorial cartoon
Illustration by Brian Gable
Living better
Ten rosés to savour now
Summer is here, which means the liquor stores are stocked up with rosé. Rosé was once considered a “cheap and cheerful” pick, but now that wineries farm grapes specifically for rosé production instead of using cast-offs from their conventional portfolios, the diversity of rosé you can pick from has increased.
Christopher Waters guides you through the best options for this summer.
Moment in time: July 6, 2019
US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman announces charges against Jeffery Epstein on July 8, 2019 in New York City.Stephanie Keith/Getty Images
Financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein arrested
Four years ago, Jeffrey Epstein was arrested in New York on federal charges of sex trafficking of minors. Prosecutors accused the wealthy financier – whose friends included the rich and powerful, politicians and a member of the Royal Family – of luring dozens of underage girls as young as 14 to his luxury homes in New York and Florida, paying them for massages and then molesting them. The charges dated back to the early 2000s. However, the July 6, 2019, arrest was not the first time he faced criminal charges – more than a decade earlier, he pleaded guilty to a Florida state felony-prostitution charge. For that crime, Mr. Epstein served 13 months of an 18-month sentence, largely on a work release program, was registered as a sex offender and paid restitution to many victims. The deal prompted significant backlash, with critics arguing it was far too lenient. A conviction on the 2019 charges could have led to a sentence of up to 45 years in prison, but Mr. Epstein would never face his accusers in court. He died by suicide in his prison cell the month after his arrest, on Aug. 10, 2019. Ian Morfitt
Read today's horoscopes. Enjoy today's puzzles.
If you’d like to receive this newsletter by e-mail every weekday morning, go here to sign up. If you have any feedback, send us a note.