United States

Australia's IFM Investors said on Thursday it had agreed to pay $5.73 billion to buy the bankrupt operator of a major U.S. toll road, making its biggest overseas investment, Reuters reported. IFM Investors, which is owned by 30 Australian pension funds and manages $43 billion, said the purchase of ITR Concession Co LLC gave its investors access to core infrastructure in the world's largest capital market.

The Canadian subsidiary of embattled for-profit education company Corinthian Colleges Inc. has filed for bankruptcy under Canada’s insolvency law after an Ontario education regulator took action against the company’s 14 Canadian campuses, The Wall Street Journal reported. Everest Colleges Canada Inc. filed for an assignment under the Bankruptcy Insolvency Act on Friday, which is Canada’s bankruptcy law. Duff Phelps Canada Restructuring Inc. will administer the case as trustee, according to an announcement.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc will scoop up bankrupt cancer vaccine maker Dendreon Corp, after no additional qualified bids came forward by Tuesday's deadline, Valeant said. A potential buyer dropped from the bidding process, three sources close to the sale told Reuters earlier. Valeant, of Laval, Quebec, will get Seattle-based Dendreon's Provenge cancer treatment and other assets for $400 million in cash. Dendreon and Valeant will seek court approval of the sale on Feb. 20, Valeant said. It expects to close the deal by the end of this month.

US holders of defaulted Argentine bonds have stepped up their campaign for full repayment of their loans by detailing how 14 senior Argentine officials experienced “dramatic and often unexplained increases” in their personal wealth during service in the Kirchner administrations, the Irish Times reported.

Target Canada has reached an agreement with its landlords on the sale of leases for the closing of Target retail stores, CBC.ca reported. Documents filed with an Ontario court say both sides have agreed to a court-appointed monitor to supervise the sale, which shifts control away from Target Canada. The retailer has also set May 15 as the deadline for wrapping up the sale of the leases, with an final date set for June 30. If a lease isn't sold by the June deadline, then the rights will be returned to the landlord, according to the documents.

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. sought creditor protection in Canada for its Bloom Lake iron ore mine, potentially cutting the cost of closing it down, Bloomberg News reported. Bloom Lake General Partner Ltd. and certain affiliates started restructuring proceedings in Montreal under Canada’s Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, Cliffs said in a statement on Tuesday. Cliffs, the largest U.S. iron ore producer, has been looking at options to sell Bloom Lake for several months and said earlier this month it suspended production there amid a slump in prices.

AT&T Inc said on Monday it would buy bankrupt NII Holdings Inc's wireless business in Mexico for $1.875 billion in a move to create a larger Mexican wireless player that will have a better chance of competing with No. 1 America Movil, Reuters reported. NII Holdings, the parent of Nextel operators in Latin America, filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States in September after struggling with $5.8 billion in debt and fierce competition in Brazil and Mexico. It is still exploring options for its larger Brazilian operations.

Target Corp will exit the Canadian market after less than two years in a surprise retreat that will throw more than 17,000 employees out of work and trigger a $5.4 billion quarterly loss. Shares of the U.S. discount retailer, which was granted creditor protection for its money-losing Canadian subsidiary, at one point rose more than 4 percent on the move. The stock was up 2.2 percent at $75.94 in afternoon trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

Victims of the Lac-Megantic oil-by-rail disaster that killed 47 people in the Canadian province of Quebec in 2013 agreed to a nearly $200 million settlement with some of the firms involved, including the insolvent rail operator at the center of the tragedy, a lawyer for the victims said on Friday. Montreal Maine and Atlantic (MMA), along with its insurers, founder Edward Burkhardt, and various other companies, will pay into the settlement fund, which will be distributed to the victims of the train derailment and explosion, lawyer Peter Flowers of Meyers & Flowers in Chicago told Reuters.

The highly critical judgment in the bankruptcy trial of former Anglo Irish Bank chief executive David Drumm has been passed to the office of the US Trustee, which can refer the judge’s findings to the department of justice and recommend criminal charges on perjury and fraud, the Irish Times reported.