Tausi Insider

A Sobeys store in Toronto on April 3, 2020. J.P. MOCZULSKI/Tausi Insider A parliamentary committee wants the CEOs of major grocery companies to appear for questioning on record-level food price inflation after representatives for Loblaw L-T and Sobeys EMP-A-T said there’s little they can do to prevent passing on costs to consumers. Senior officials with the companies appeared in front of MPs on the agriculture committee on Monday as part of its examination into grocery business practices. The review – which saw MPs repeatedly questioning the officials on the issues of transparency and public trust – takes place against a backdrop of record-level rates of food inflation in Canada. Policy makers are scrambling to address a growing chorus of concerns over food prices. Last month, the committee had sent invitations to the grocery retailers, asking for representatives to attend the Ottawa meeting. Present on Monday were Jodat Hussain, a senior vice-president of retail finance for Loblaw (...

Samir Manji, founder and chief executive officer of Vancouver-based Sandpiper Group, launched a proxy contest aimed at replacing four of nine trustees on First Capital’s board. DARRYL DYCK/Globe and Mail First Capital Real Estate Investment Trust FCR-UN-T is asking investors to be patient as activist campaigns from two fund managers and the REIT’s founder set out a starkly different approach to property sales than the strategy introduced this fall by the REIT’s own executives. First Capital owns one of the country’s largest retail property portfolios, a collection of grocery store-anchored malls in four provinces valued at $10-billion. Over the past five years, the price of First Capital units significantly lagged peers, declining by 19 per cent. In September, the REIT announced plans to sell up to $1-billion of real estate over the next two years to fund new developments. At the same time, First Capital doubled its monthly cash distributions. Shortly after, First Capital sold a 50-p...

Samir Manji, founder and chief executive officer of Vancouver-based Sandpiper Group, launched a proxy contest aimed at replacing four of nine trustees on First Capital’s board. DARRYL DYCK/Globe and Mail First Capital Real Estate Investment Trust FCR-UN-T is asking investors to be patient as activist campaigns from two fund managers and the REIT’s founder set out a starkly different approach to property sales than the strategy introduced this fall by the REIT’s own executives. First Capital owns one of the country’s largest retail property portfolios, a collection of grocery store-anchored malls in four provinces valued at $10-billion. Over the past five years, the price of First Capital units significantly lagged peers, declining by 19 per cent. In September, the REIT announced plans to sell up to $1-billion of real estate over the next two years to fund new developments. At the same time, First Capital doubled its monthly cash distributions. Shortly after, First Capital sold a 50-p...