Canada

Westinghouse Electric Co LLC, Toshiba Corp's nuclear services business, has made an agreement with its creditors that will clear the company's path out of bankruptcy, according to three people familiar with the matter. The deal will divvy up cash from the $4.6 billion proposed sale of Westinghouse to Brookfield Business Partners, an affiliate of Canada's Brookfield Asset Management, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story.

The Canadian government is increasingly reluctant to insure mortgages against default, Bloomberg News reported. That may end up giving new life to a nascent bond market in the nation. For decades, most home loans made in Canada were made by the biggest banks and guaranteed by the government’s housing agency. In late 2016, regulators tightened the requirements for qualifying for that insurance, resulting in more people doing without it: about three-quarters of the mortgages made by federally regulated banks last year didn’t have government backing.

Dutch tidal turbines developer Tocardo International BV has filed for insolvency the same day it became official that Canada’s Tribute Resources Inc will not buy out the company, Renewables Now reported. Tocardo has secured a deferral of payment to creditors. A creditors meeting will be held on March 27, 2018. In early August 2017, Canadian energy company Tribute Resources unveiled its intention to buy the 53.5% stake it does not already own in Tocardo and focus on tidal and marine power development. The plan included changing Tribute’s name to Tocardo Energy Inc following the combination.

Economic output in Canada unexpectedly stalled in October—due to a decline in the energy sector—likely curbing expectations of a rate increase from the Bank of Canada in January, the Wall Street Journal reported. The level of Canada’s gross domestic product--the broadest measure of goods and services produced in an economy--was unchanged in October from the previous month at 1.75 trillion Canadian dollars ($1.37 trillion) on a seasonally-adjusted basis, Statistics Canada said on Friday.

Crystallex International Corp. and Venezuela agreed to settle a $1.2 billion dispute over the 2011 nationalization of a gold deposit in the South American nation, Bloomberg News reported. Ontario Superior Court Justice Glenn Hainey in Toronto approved the settlement on Friday after it was announced two days earlier through filings in Canada. Parts of the agreement remain sealed, including the amount to be paid.

Sears Canada’s liquidation sales, which began last week, have disappointed early bargain seekers, but steeper discounts expected further into Canada’s holiday shopping season are likely to squeeze rivals, analysts say. Sears Canada, which was spun off from Sears Holdings Corp. in 2012, is preparing to shut its doors in early 2018 after years of falling sales and sliding market share, Reuters reported. It won court approval this month to liquidate its assets after failing to secure a rescue deal.

Concordia International Corp., stumbling under debt that the Canadian drugmaker piled on during a takeover spree, is seeking to restructure its finances and cut borrowings by at least $2 billion after missing an interest payment Monday on some unsecured bonds, Bloomberg News reported. Management is pursuing a plan under the Canada Business Corporations Act, according to a statement Friday, which didn’t outline any potential terms of a deal but said the company would continue making payments on its secured debt.

Sears Canada recently announced that it's closing all stores and eliminating thousands of jobs in Mississauga and beyond. This might be sad news for employees and anyone who feels some nostalgia thinking about Sears catalogues, but it also means that sales are coming. Prior to the court ruling, Sears said it would proceed with liquidation sales at retail locations on October 19 and continue for 10 to 14 weeks, Insauga reported.

Sears Canada on Friday won court approval to begin liquidating all its remaining assets starting Oct. 19, putting the retail chain with 12,000 employees on a path to closure after 65 years in the country. The approval was granted by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, which also extended creditor protection for Sears Canada to Jan. 22, Reuters reported. The public liquidation sales are set to end on Jan. 21.

Sears Canada moved a step nearer to permanent closure after several attempts to find a buyer failed, with the retailer saying it will seek court approval on Friday to shutter its remaining 130 stores, leaving 12,000 employees without jobs, Reuters reported. The retail chain is the latest victim of a widespread shift in consumer behavior demanding more convenience and up-to-date fashions that has seen nimble online operators such as Amazon.com Inc. claw market share from bricks-and-mortar retailers that have clung to their traditional business models.