Cadillac Fairview sells half of its Vancouver properties, including Pacific Centre

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One of Canada’s largest commercial real estate management and development companies has sold a 50% interest in its Vancouver portfolio, which includes a major shopping centre and a number of office buildings.

Cadillac Fairview announced today that the Ontario Pension Board (OPB) and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) now each own a 25% stake in the company’s vast portfolio. The Toronto-based company retains ownership of the remaining 50%.

Altogether, this deal spans four million square feet of leasable space, including CF Pacific Centre shopping mall, the Waterfront Station building, and a dozen office towers in downtown Vancouver. Its largest and most valuable asset is Pacific Centre, which consists of not only the mall space but also the spaces occupied by Nordstrom, Holt Renfrew, office spaces for Microsoft and Sony Pictures Imageworks, and several adjoining office towers.

“This deal gives us the rare opportunity to gain direct exposure to the tightly held Vancouver real estate market. As the economic and financial centre for Western Canada and the primary access point to Asian markets, Vancouver is expected to outperform other major Canadian cities going forward,” said Mark Fuller, President and CEO of the OPB, in a statement.

“It is also a great example of how asset pooling and scale help us gain direct access to high-quality assets that will help us generate strong returns over the long term.”

Cadillac Fairview also has a joint-ownership partnership with the OPB four major properties in downtown Toronto, including RBC Centre, Toronto-Dominion Centre, and two development properties at 16 York Street & 160 Front Street West.

Here is Cadillac Fairview’s portfolio in Vancouver:

  • CF Pacific Centre (701 West Georgia)
  • Waterfront Centre (200 Burrard Street)
  • 725 Granville Street
  • Granville Square (600 Granville Street)
  • PrincewaterhouseCoopers Place (250 Howe Street)
  • 700 West Pender Street
  • 750 West Pender
  • Cannacord Genuity Place (609 Granville Street)
  • 777 Dunsmuir Street
  • 701 West Georgia Street
  • TD Tower (700 West Georgia Street)
  • HSBC Building
  • The Station (601 Cordova Street)

The value of the deal with OPB and WSIB was not disclosed, but it is likely well over the billion dollar range.

Just before Christmas, TransLink announced that it had closed a $440-million deal to sell its 13.8-acre decommissioned Oakridge bus depot, which will be redeveloped with 1,200 residential units.

Written by
Kenneth Chan
National Features Editor at Daily Hive, the evolution of Vancity Buzz. He covers stories pertaining to local architecture, urban issues, politics, business, retail, economic development, transportation, infrastructure, and anything else that makes a difference in the lives of Canadians. Kenneth is also a Co-Founder of New Year’s Eve Vancouver. Connect with him at kenneth[at]dailyhive.com

Snapchat has filed for an IPO that could value the company at $25 billion

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Alex Heath and Portia Crowe
Nov. 15, 2016, 4:02 PM
Source: Business Insider
http://www.businessinsider.com/snapchat-parent-company-snap-inc-files-for-ipo-2016-11

Snapchat’s parent company, Snap Inc., has quietly filed paperwork for an initial public offering, setting the wheels in motion for what’s expected to be the largest tech debut in years.

Snap, which is based in Venice Beach, California, confidentially filed its paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission before the presidential election, a person familiar with the matter told Business Insider.

Snap’s IPO could come as early as March, but it could also occur in the second quarter of 2017, the person said. The company is seeking a valuation of $20 billion to $25 billion.

Some people think the offering could be even larger. Bloomberg has reported that Snap’s IPO valuation could swell as high as $40 billion.

Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs will lead the deal, while JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, Allen & Co., Barclays, and Credit Suisse will be joint bookrunners.

Revenue engine
Snapchat Spectacles filter
A Snapchat selfie “lense” that lets you try on a virtual pair of the company’s Spectacles camera glasses. Melia Robinson/Business Insider
Snapchat has emerged as one of the most popular consumer internet services, challenging Facebook, Twitter, and Google for users and advertising dollars. With the tech IPO market stuck in the doldrums over the past year, investors are hoping Snap’s offering could open the gates to more IPOs, including closely watched tech companies like Uber.

Snap has told investors that it expects to make $250 million to $350 million in advertising revenue this year. A recent eMarketer report predicted the company would near $1 billion in revenue in 2017 — meaning an IPO that valued the company at $25 billion would be 25 times its projected revenue numbers.

It’s not clear whether Snap is profitable, however, and the company is aggressively expanding into new businesses and markets that are likely to eat into margins.

Snap’s main business is advertising in the Snapchat app, which has over 150 million daily users. But Snap recently rebranded itself as a camera company and started selling $130 camera-equipped sunglasses called Spectacles.

The company most recently raised $1.81 billion in private funding in May, which pegged its valuation at $18 billion to $22 billion.

With annual revenue under $1 billion now, Snap was able to file its Form S-1 with the SEC confidentially under the JOBS Act. News of the filing was first reported by Reuters on Tuesday.

A Day of Wins! STRIVE raises $10k and wins the 2016 Exile Island Competition!

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A day of wins! STRIVE Recruitment Inc. is proud to have participated in The Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada Annual Exile Island Challenge. Not only did we raise $10,000 for our awesome wish kid, Crystal; but we also competed against KPMG, BCLC, Teekay Corporation, Gowlings  & others in a  survivor-like challenge… and we won!

From the Mind-Breaker to the Hidden Treasure, STRIVE was tasked with navigating several gruelling challenges that required strategy and teamwork (right up our alley!).  Fulfilling Crystal’s wish is one of the proudest moments of our company’s history and we are grateful to all of the fantastic people at Children’s Wish Foundation BC for the amazing experience.

KPMG is shortening its recruitment process because millennials are getting frustrated

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Accountancy firm KPMG has decided to make its recruitment process much shorter because millennial applicants — people born between 1980 and 2000 — are getting frustrated by the old system, according to the BBC.

KPMG’s previous arrangement required three separate assessments, which took place over many weeks. But the new one will be carried out in a single day — and candidates will find out in just two working days if they have landed the job.

The decision follows a survey by KPMG in which more than a third of the 400 respondents said they were annoyed by the length of the application process. Even worse, more than half said they hated not getting any feedback if they did not get the job.

KPMG chairman Simon Collins said the move was necessary to stay ahead of smaller startup firms which recruited people far more quickly: “we are competing with the full gamut for the best brains and talent leaving university: getting our graduate recruitment right is crucial to the long-term success of our business.”

This is not the first time a big company has streamlined its recruitment process. A month ago, Goldman Sachs announced that it would scrap face-to-face interviews with undergraduates in favour of video interviews. The bank hires around 2,500 students each summer to be part-time and full-time analysts.

Last year accountancy firm Deloitte also said that it would hide where applicants went to university from recruiters to prevent an “unconscious bias.”

As well as improving social mobility, Deloitte senior partner David Sproul told the BBC that it was also self-serving, as companies needed “to hire people who think and innovate differently, come from a variety of backgrounds and bring a range of perspectives.”

Source: Business Insider