Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 26, 2012, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B3 BUSINESS EDITOR: STEVE PONA 697- 7264 business@ freepress. mb. ca I MARKET DETAILS B4,5 I winnipegfreepress. com TUESDAY, JUNE 26, 2012 B 3 MIRACULINS Inc. now has a global investment heavyweight on its board to add some weight behind it as it sets about launching its novel skin- cholesterol test, PreVu, in the retail pharmacy setting. Jim Mellon, one of the wealthiest people in Europe - reportedly worth more than 500 million British pounds - contributed to Miraculins' latest financing and liked the company so much he agreed to join the board. Until not so long ago, the Isle of Manbased fund manager was most active as an investor in the mining industry worldwide. But he has lately been bullish on the bio- science field and in May 2011 helped launch a public- investment arm called Port Erin Bio Pharma Investments Ltd., based on the Isle of Man. Chris Moreau, CEO of Winnipegbased Miraculins, would not disclose the size of Mellon's Miraculins' investment, other than to say he is now a " significant" investor ( but it's likely less than a 10 per cent stake, as more would have to be publicly disclosed). " It's great to have someone of Jim's experience and background on the board," Moreau said. " Every CEO would love to have as much depth on his board as possible. Jim adds an incredible dimension being an international business investor, an experienced fund manager and the director of many different companies." Miraculins is developing diagnostic technologies for a number of diseases, including prostate cancer and colorectal cancer. Its most current project, however, is a fully developed and approved test kit that measures skin cholesterol. Miraculins already has distribution partners lined up, one targeting the retail pharmacy market and another targeting doctors' offices and clinics. Earlier this year, the company raised $ 2.4 million in a private placement offering of shares. During that effort, Moreau said a Montreal- based shareholder of Miraculins offered to set up a meeting between Moreau and Mellon. " The investor has a connection with Mellon and he was going to be in Montreal at the same time I was," Moreau said. " I had an hour- anda- half meeting explaining the technology, the management team and the potential. It was great talking with him. He really got it." Mellon, a graduate of Oxford University, started his fund- management career in Hong Kong and eventually started his own firms. In addition to Port Erin, he is principally connected to Regent Pacific Group Ltd., incorporated in the Cayman Islands, which invests primarily in mining ventures in China and Asia, and the listed fund- management firm Charlemagne Capital, based in London. He's also written books on investment strategies, including 2012' s Cracking the Code: Understand and Profit from the Biotech Revolution That Will Transform Our Lives and Generate Fortunes. Mellon's appointment to the board fills a director vacancy created by the resignation of Noah Billick, who is stepping down for personal reasons. Miraculins shares ( TSXV: MOM) gained half a cent in trading Monday to close at 11 cents. martin. cash@ freepress. mb. ca Miraculins attracts mega- investor to its board By Martin Cash O NE year after all three levels of government agreed to help fund the Winnipeg Convention Centre's expansion, politicians stood at the main entrance of the downtown structure to tally up how much they plan to spend. Last summer, the city, province and Ottawa agreed to cover 90 per cent the cost of a $ 180- million expansion that would see the 38- year- old convention centre almost double in size by expanding south over York Avenue. But thanks to the 2011 provincial election, the NDP government wasn't allowed to publicize the funding commitment. Hence the complete absence of drama at a Monday press conference that saw Premier Greg Selinger, Mayor Sam Katz and Charleswood- St. James- Assiniboia MP Steven Fletcher confirm their support for a project that effectively got started last July, when the convention centre began a formal search for a private partner to build a hotel alongside the new complex. " A lot of people don't understand the phenomenal importance a convention centre has on the economy of the city," said Katz, adding downtown hotels rely upon convention business. When the convention centre was built in 1974, at 160,000 square feet, it was the largest of its kind in Canada. Now at least 15 other Canadian cities have larger or comparable facilities. The Winnipeg Convention Centre first began warning governments it needed to expand to remain competitive in 2001. While the city began socking away cash toward it by introducing an accommodation tax in 2007, both the province and Ottawa rejected a formal expansion plan announced the following year. Now, all three levels of government have agreed to spend a combined $ 149 million toward a facility that will cost as much as $ 200 million. The city and province will each contribute $ 51 million to the project, while Ottawa will tap into what's left of its Manitoba infrastructure- funding kitty to come up with $ 46.7 million. The convention centre itself will contribute at least $ 17 million, while another $ 18 million in funding is expected from additional property taxes flowing from the new hotel alongside the convention centre. Those latter two figures are fluid, as the final design and business plan for the facility are not ready, said Klaus Lahr, the convention centre's president and CEO. " There's all kinds of liquid and negotiable areas. It's really premature to talk about it," he said, referring to the absence of artist's renderings of the new- look convention centre. What is on the table is an expansion that will see the convention centre's main exhibition space on the third floor increase from the current 78,000 square feet to approximately 150,000 by extending it south across York Avenue and over a new structure that will replace a provincially owned surface parking lot. The Selinger government promised during the 2011 provincial election to develop that lot. The first two floors of the new building will be taken up by a new 30,000s- square- foot ballroom with a high ceiling, Lahr said. What remains up in the air is the location of the new hotel and the identity of the privatesector partner that will build it. Officials declined to comment on speculation the new hotel could replace the existing Carlton Inn, north of the convention centre, possibly with the help of a government- assisted buyout. Lahr said he had no preference for the location of the new hotel, " as long as it is connectable or within a very, very short walking distance." He declined to say whether the uncertainty over the hotel's location is a reason the expansion design remains under wraps. bartley. kives@ freepress. mb. ca RESEARCH In Motion Ltd. ( TSX: RIM) shares hit their lowest level since 2003 on Monday as the company was downgraded by investment firm Morgan Stanley, which called the company " essentially broken." Morgan Stanley's Ehud Gelblum said whilethetroublesatRIMarewell- known, the investment firm believes estimates for the company need to come down even further over the next six months. " We believe the fundamental story at RIM is essentially broken and that the most likely way to unlock value from the company is through either a strategic option or selling off the operations," Gelblum said as the bank downgraded the company to " underweight." " We therefore believe the next six to nine months are likely filled with the competing factors of rapidly deteriorating fundamentals on the one hand and stories of potential strategic options on the other, leaving the stock pushed and pulled strongly in both directions." Shares in RIM traded as low as $ 9.27 on Monday on the Toronto Stock Exchange, its lowest level since 2003 after adjusting for stock splits. The stock closed down 76 cents at $ 9.36. The drop came as RIM dismissed a weekend Sunday Times report that suggested the company was considering selling its handset manufacturing unit or a stake in the whole company. Speculation that RIM may be sold or broken up increased earlier this year after the company hired JPMorgan Chase & Co. and RBC Capital Markets to help evaluate its strategic options. " RIM has hired advisers to help the company examine ways to leverage the BlackBerry platform through partnerships, licensing opportunities and strategic business model alternatives," RIM said in a statement. " As ( CEO) Thorsten ( Heins) said on the company's fourthquarter earnings call: ' We believe the best way to drive value for our stakeholders is to execute on our plan to turn the company around.' This remains true." RIM is scheduled to report its latest quarterly earnings results Thursday and provide a business update to investors. The average analyst estimate is for a profit of a penny per share and $ 3.13 billion in revenue, according to those surveyed by Thomson Reuters. Scotiabank analyst Gus Papageorgiou said investors will be looking for a clear message from the company when it reports its earnings on Thursday. " From an outside perspective, putting the company up for sale seems to be a rational and realistic alternative given the seeming insurmountable challenges it faces," Papageorgiou wrote in a note to clients. - The Canadian Press New Flyer redeems notes NEW Flyer Industries has formally commenced the process of redeeming all of its 14 per cent subordinated notes that are held separately in the form of an income deposit security ( IDS). Each IDS consists of one common share of NFI and a $ 55.30 principal amount of subordinated notes. As previously announced, once the redemption of subordinated notes is complete, the board of directors of NFI expects to establish a new dividend policy that will reduce the annualized dividend payment to approximately 50 per cent of the previous annual IDS distribution level of $ 1.17 per IDS. The redemption of the 14 per cent subordinated notes will be financed with the net proceeds of NFI's recently completed $ 65- million public offering of 6.25 per cent convertible unsecured subordinated debentures. Microsoft buys Yammer for $ 1.2B SAN FRANCISCO - Microsoft is buying Internet startup Yammer for US$ 1.2 billion in an attempt to bring Facebook- like sharing features to its widely used suite of business- software applications. Yammer specializes in creating private social networks so employees within the same company can keep tabs on what colleagues are working on. That's similar to how Facebook's online social network allows friends and families to track what's happening in each other's personal lives. The deal, announced Monday, comes nearly two weeks after word of Microsoft's negotiations with Yammer first leaked out in published reports. BMO shuts redundant branches TORONTO - Bank of Montreal ( TSX: BMO) says it will close 24 of its U. S. BMO Harris bank branches in the U. S. Midwest, where the bank is scaling back on overlapping branches after the acquisition of a Milwaukee- based rival. The Chicago- based subsidiary of the large Canadian bank said Monday it will close 17 locations in Wisconsin, five in Indiana, one in Illinois and one in Kansas that have been deemed redundant following the takeover of Marshall & Ilsley Corp. The decision to close those branches is directly related to the bank's plan to find cost- saving synergies through the acquisition, which about doubled the number of branches at BMO Harris Bank to nearly 700. Hiring surge for Walmart MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - Walmart Canada is ramping up hiring amid rapid expansion in this country by the U. S.- based retail giant. Walmart says it will open 47 hiring centres across the country as it adds a total of some 4,000 new employees this year and next, about 500 more than previously announced. By the end of 2013, the company expects to spend some $ 750 million to open, relocate or remodel 73 stores. Included are most of the 39 former Zellers stores for which Walmart Canada purchased leasehold rights in June 2011. Cyprus latest to seek aid NICOSIA, Cyprus - Cyprus on Monday became the fifth eurozone country to request financial aid from its partners in the European currency union as it struggles to shore up its banks, which took heavy losses on Greek debt. The island nation's government said in a terse statement it required assistance following " negative spillover effects through its financial sector, due to its large exposure in the Greek economy." - from the news services ' Essentially broken' RIM's shares sink to lowest point since 2003 BUSINESS Watch Governments ante up Unveil cash commitments for expanding convention centre By Bartley Kives WINNIPEG CONVENTION CENTRE . Built : 1974, on the downtown block bounded by St. Mary Avenue, Edmonton Street, York Avenue and Carlton Street. Current building has 160,000 square feet. . Planned expansion : South over York Avenue to assume the footprint of a provincially owned surface parking lot. This would add about 80,000 square feet to the third- floor main exhibition space and create a new 30,000s- square- foot ballroom. The design has yet to be released. . Expansion cost : $ 180 million to $ 200 million. The city and province are in for $ 51 million each, Ottawa will spend $ 46.7 million and the convention centre will raise at least $ 17 million of its own. Incremental taxes from a new hotel will contribute another $ 18 million. Jim Mellon JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The Winnipeg Convention Centre started its life as Canada's largest such facility, but is now too small to compete. B_ 03_ Jun- 26- 12_ FP_ 01. indd B3 6/ 25/ 12 8: 29: 57 PM ;