By James Langton
(April 24 – 18:00 ET) – Mutual fund companies had a strong day on the markets today, as takeover rumours concerning Trimark Financial Corp. began spilling over into other firms.
At the center of the storm, Trimark had a huge day, closing up almost 20% to $22.75 on huge volume of almost 1.5 million shares. The firm issued a news release confirming that it has been approached by an interested buyer and a transaction may happen.
Rumours about possible bidders abound. AIM Fund Management Inc. is a perennial contender, as it has explicitly expressed a desire to make a deal. The Canadian banks may be in the hunt, and U.S. buyers are also a possibility.
Buyers are limited by the size of the deal, although C.I. Fund Management Inc. is a possibility, as is rival Mackenzie Financial Corp., and Investors Group Inc. AIM seems to be the hot rumour of the day.
Griffiths McBurney was the big buyer of Trimark stock today, adding 621,000 shares. It was not much of a buyer before the halt, and has not been in prior days. However it did cross several huge blocks this afternoon. RBC Dominion Securities Inc. led the trading in the morning.
On the news, the other fund company stocks that are usually hot gossip topics were also sought by investors. Mackenzie closed up more than 6% over 800,000 shares. IG added more than 5%, and C.I. was up 3.5%, albeit in less active trading.