Corporate deal making boosts TSX: Burger King buys Tim Hortons in US$11B deal

TORONTO - The Toronto stock market closed higher Tuesday, boosted in part by major corporate deal making as Burger King announced it's buying Tim Hortons. The cash and stock deal is worth about US$11 billion and will create the world's third-largest quick service restaurant company.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 20.47 points to a record-high close of 15,619.21 but off early highs with losses growing in the financial sector as traders also looked over mixed earnings results from Bank of Montreal (TSX:BMO) and Scotiabank (TSX:BNS).

The Canadian dollar rose 0.24 of a cent to 91.31 cents US.

Burger King is buying the iconic Canadian coffee and doughnut chain in a deal that will see the parent of the U.S. firm, investment company 3G Capital, own 51 per cent of the new entity.

Tim Hortons (TSX:THI) (NYSE:THI) shares were up 8.14 per cent to $88.71 on the TSX and by 8.47 per cent to US$81.05 in New York. Shares in Burger King (NYSE:BKW) ticked 4.3 per cent lower to US$31. Both issues surged almost 20 per cent on Monday when reports of the deal first surfaced.

Some analysts have suggested that Canada’s lower tax rates stand to benefit Burger King over time. But Burger King said that’s the not main motivation for the deal.

"For the most part it’s a combination that they feel will work going forward — both companies will benefit," said Allan Small, senior adviser at HollisWealth.

"Obviously Tim Hortons has been trying to gain some traction in the U.S. for quite some time. But they’ve had their struggles and Burger King, obviously, is trying to get into a segment of the market that they haven’t been able to. That coffee business is pretty high margin, strong business to get into which is why McDonald's has been doing that for quite some time now."

New York indexes were also higher with the Dow Jones industrials ahead 29.83 points to 17,106.7, the Nasdaq up 13.29 points at 4,570.64 and the S&P 500 index points 2.1 points higher to a record close of 2,000.02.

Investors digested data showing U.S. durable goods orders in July jumped 22.6 per cent, reflecting a huge increase in orders at aircraft giant Boeing. Excluding transportation, orders actually declined 0.8 per cent.

Meanwhile, Scotiabank posted quarterly net income of $2.35 billion or $1.85 a share, up from $1.74 billion or $1.36 a share a year ago as the bank benefited from the sale of its majority interest in CI Financial. Adjusted earnings were $1.40, missing estimates by a penny. The bank also upped its dividend by two cents a share, but Scotiabank shares fell $1.74 to $72.45.

Bank of Montreal reported a third-quarter net income of $1.126 billion, or $1.67 per share, relatively unchanged from the same time last year. Adjusted earnings were $1.73 a share, beating estimates by seven cents and its shares gained 35 cents to $82.16.

The financials sector was the biggest TSX decliner, down 0.5 per cent. However, the sector is up 12 per cent year to date amid heightened expectations for the big banks.

"They will continue to grow but I wouldn’t look for any blowout quarters," added Small.

"What you can expect from the banks is consistent growth."

Advancers were led by the gold sector, ahead about 1.8 per cent as December bullion gained $6.30 to US$1,285.20 an ounce.

September copper dipped three cents to US$3.19 a pound and the base metals sector was up 0.8 per cent.

The energy sector was ahead 0.5 per cent, while October crude in New York was 51 cents higher to US$93.86 a barrel.