Nouvelles diverses | Page 3

Le Devoir nous a annoncé il y a peu le rachat de CST (qui ne connaît pas Ultramar au Québec) par l’entreprise Couche-Tard : « Alimentation Couche-Tard achète CST pour 4,4 milliards $US ». L’entreprise québécoise finance la transaction — assujettie à l’approbation des actionnaires de CST ainsi qu’aux approbations réglementaires usuelles aux États-Unis et au Canada — à même ses liquidités, ses facilités de crédit existantes ainsi qu’un nouveau prêt à terme.

Alimentation Couche-Tard a renforcé sa position comme l’une des plus importantes chaînes de dépanneurs en Amérique du Nord en achetant sa rivale CST Brand pour 4,4 milliards $ US.

Annoncée lundi, après une semaine de rumeurs, la transaction équivaut à 48,53 $ US par action — soit une prime de 42 % par rapport au prix du titre de CST Brands à la clôture des marchés le 3 mars — et inclut la prise en charge de la dette de l’entreprise américaine.

À la prochaine…

Ivan Tchotourian

Belle étude annuelle de Pwc consacrée à la criminalité économique : « Global Economic Crime Survey 2016 – Adjusting the Lens on Economic Crime:  Preparation brings opportunity back into focus ».

Today more than ever before, a passive approach to detecting and preventing economic crime is a recipe for disaster. To underscore this fact, our survey uncovered a widespread lack of confidence in local law enforcement – a phenomenon that is not limited to regions or level of economic development. The message is clear: the burden of preventing, protecting and responding to economic crime rests firmly with organisations themselves. Our survey this year focuses on three key areas – Cybercrime, Ethics and compliance programmes and Anti-Money Laundering – and explores certain common themes, including managing the risks associated with the pervasion of technology; what it means to conduct business responsibly across a widening business landscape; and integrating ethical conduct into decision-making.

In addition to highlighting specific areas of economic crime worth focusing on, we emphasise the things you can do better to tackle them – implementing more sophisticated and effective measures that can not only reduce these risks, but also bring the benefits of a more threat-aware business, confident of its defences in a changing world.

À la prochaine…

Ivan Tchotourian

Ma collègue Beate Sjåfjell (qu’on ne présente plus) de la Faculté de droit d’Oslo organise un beau colloque international et interdisciplinaire à Oslo les 29 et 30 novembre 2016 sur le thème suivant : « Life-cycle based management and reporting for sustainable business ».

Meeting the grand challenge of securing a social foundation for all people today and for future generations without destroying the very basis of our existence, is arguably not possible without the contribution of business. What this requires of business in aggregate may be denoted corporate sustainability, which can be defined as when businesses (or more broadly, private, public and hybrid economic actors) in aggregate create value in a manner that is (a) environmentally sustainable in the sense that it ensures the long-term stability and resilience of the ecosystems that support human life, (b) socially sustainable in the sense that it facilitates the respect and promotion of human rights, and (c) economically sustainable in the sense that it satisfies the economic needs necessary for stable and resilient societies. The new UN Sustainable Development Goals with national integration have also given corporate sustainability a new and stronger momentum.

A life-cycle based approach to business, where environmental, social and governance impacts are integrated, is a possible approach towards achieving corporate sustainability. It also has the potential of transcending the barriers between legal entities, both public and private, and across global supply chains and contractual networks.

À la prochaine…

Ivan Tchotourian

Pays très ouvert aux acquéreurs étrangers – pour peu qu’ils payent le bon prix –, le Royaume-Uni n’avait pas été habitué à ce rang. En 2015, il représentait plus de 10 % des opérations de fusions-acquisitions à travers la planète. Le record avait même été de 18 % en 2000. Selon Thomson Reuters, les achats d’entreprises britanniques par des étrangers ont totalisé 43,8 milliards de dollars (39 milliards d’euros) entre le 1er janvier et le 16 juin, en recul de 74 %.

Les entreprises japonaises feraient-elles l’objet d’une gouvernance de type anglo-américaine ? C’est ce qu’il semble à la lecture de cet article : « Shareholders put Japan’s corporate governance to the test » (Nikkei Asian Review, 25 juin 2016).

Voici quelques extraits :

Many stockholders at security company Secom’s annual meeting Friday demanded explanations over why then-Chairman Shuji Maeda and then-President Hiroshi Ito were fired in May, despite the company’s strong performance last fiscal year. (…) Secom voluntarily created an executive nomination and compensation committee, but has not made the members’ names public. Attendees raised questions over the effectiveness of the company’s governance structure. « There’s still room for improvement in the selection process for executives, » one said.

Shareholders at Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings’ meeting the same day focused on earnings power and dividends. The chemical company had logged extraordinary losses from restructuring its petrochemical business, while return on equity fell under 5% for the year ended in March. Shareholders demanded more details over the loss, and urged the company to try to raise its stock price. (…)

Kobe Steel logged a group net loss last fiscal year, and its ROE has long remained low. Just 87.3% of shareholders voted for the proposal to retain Chairman and President Hiroya Kawasaki, down 8 percentage points from last year. (…)

Toshiba came under harsh criticism at its Wednesday meeting, with shareholders blaming the company’s top-down culture and the lack of independence at its accounting department for its bookkeeping scandal. Only 87.06% of shareholders voted to reappoint President Satoshi Tsunakawa,

À la prochaine…

Ivan Tchotourian