Tausi Insider

Michael Emory, CEO of Allied Properties REIT, stands in the lobby of offices on Adelaide in Toronto. Ashley Hutcheson/Tausi Insider Office property owner Allied Properties REIT AP-UN-T is considering the sale of its data-centre portfolio, a deal that would help the commercial landlord pay down debt as it retools for a new era of higher interest rates and hybrid working. Allied, best known for its low-rise office buildings in downtown cores, currently owns three data-centre properties in downtown Toronto. In a statement Thursday, the REIT said it is “exploring the sale” of these properties, the largest of which is 151 Front St. West, a major telecom hub. The company values the portfolio at $1.3-billion. Data centres, which house servers and telecommunications equipment, are not core to Allied’s property portfolio – they comprise 16 per cent of net operating income. But chief executive officer Michael Emory has long been bullish on them, in part because their industry is a relatively s...

As any sports fan knows, streaks and slumps are part of the game. Many believe that a team that has won five games in a row is more likely to win the sixth game than lose it. Fans believe that a basketball player who has been missing free-throws all game is more likely to miss the next attempt. Whether it is teams not winning games (or championships) for years, or star players being either red-hot or sporting goose-eggs on the score sheet, streaks and slumps are part of the reality of sports. But it is also the reality that faces every investor. The belief that a basketball player is more likely to sink the next basket after a string of hits than after a miss is called the “hot hand fallacy.” It is known as the recency bias, a behavioural bias that affects investors as well. This bias means we place a higher value on recent events than on events in the distant past. In an experiment to analyze investment behaviour, subjects could bet on a series of coin tosses based on the opinion o...

British consumer goods giant Unilever is considering the sale of a portfolio of U.S. ice cream brands such as Klondike and Breyers, that could be valued at as much as $3-billion, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday. International labels Magnum and Ben & Jerry’s are not part of the review, the Bloomberg News report said, citing people familiar with the matter. Unilever chief executive Alan Jope said he would not comment on the rumours in an interview with CNBC. The company was taking decisive action on slow growth parts of company’s portfolio, Jope added. Deliberations are ongoing and the company may still decide not to sell the brands, the report added. The maker of Dove soap has had a rocky year, including its three unsuccessful bids for the consumer health arm of GSK, the arrival of activist investor Nelson Peltz and plans for Jope to retire at the end of 2023. In June, Unilever sold its Ben & Jerry’s ice cream business in Israel to its local licensee for an undisclosed sum...

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...