Uber selling Southeast Asian business to regional rival Grab + MORE Mar 27th

Navjeet Dhillon earned his millions in an old-fashioned industry: real estate. But the Calgary-based entrepreneur, commonly known as “Bob,” gave $10-million to the University of Lethbridge with the goal of transforming its faculty of management into one of the leading fintech schools in the country. The financial industry is evolving rapidly, thanks to innovations such as block chain, artificial intelligence, trade bots and cryptocurrency. But Dhillon—widely touted as Canada’s richest Sikh entrepreneur—sees few universities keeping pace with these high-velocity developments. The faculty has been renamed the Dhillon school of business in recognition of the contribution.
“I don’t want the students to say I just spent six years in university and my degree is useless,” says Dhillon. “I want them to say after six years at the University of Lethbridge, I now have a marketable skill set.”
The founder of Mainstreet Equity Corp.—a publicly traded real estate company that owns more than 11,000 apartment suites across the country—wants Lethbridge to become known as thriving university town offering a top learning experience in business…

CALGARY _ Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay says he has no immediate solution for getting Canadian grain moving again as farmers begin planning for spring seeding.
“It’s been an ongoing and unfortunate issue,” MacAulay said at an event in Calgary on Monday.
“I’ve been in contact with the railways a number of times. They are in contact with me quite regularly. Is everything fixed? No.”
Canadian National and Canadian Pacific have said they have faced challenges due to a larger-than-expected grain crop and extreme winter weather.
A source of frustration for MacAulay and many producers is Bill C-49, which would amend the Canada Transportation Act to improve public reporting by railways and to allow for financial penalties if they failed to deliver rail cars on time. It’s been stalled in the Senate since last fall.
“We want to get the bill passed through the Senate, and that the government of Canada and the railways invest in the transportation system…

MONTREAL _ Canadian National Railway Co.’s former chief executive received $12.3 million in compensation last year, before he left the company as it struggles through operational and customer service challenges, the Montreal-based railway said in a regulatory filing.
Luc Jobin’s total compensation was up from $8.3 million in 2016, when he assumed the top job halfway through the year. He was chief financial officer for the first six months.
His total compensation was slightly lower than the Royal Bank’s Dave McKay, at $12.4 million, the best compensated of Canada’s top five bank CEOs in 2017.
But he was far behind Keith Creel, who was paid $20.1 million, including $10.5 million in stock options last year to head Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd.
Jobin last year received $1.4 million in salary, $5.15 million in share-based awards, $2.7 million in option-based awards and $2.6 million in annual bonus. The remaining money came from pension values and other compensation.
On March 5, CN Rail’s board of directors announced Jobin’s departure and the appointment of Jean-Jacques Ruest, a 22-year veteran of the company, as interim president and CEO…

MONTREAL _ Aimia Inc. has averted a battle with its largest shareholders at its annual meeting next month after reaching an agreement with Mittleman Brothers Investment Management, which had sought changes at the loyalty rewards company.
As part of the deal, Philip Mittleman, 47, chief executive and president for Mittleman Brothers LLC, has been nominated to the company’s board as an independent director together with Jeremy Rabe, 41, founder and a managing partner with On Point Loyalty, an investment and advisory firm focused on the airline loyalty industry.
Brian Edwards, 68, founder of BCE Emergis Inc., has also been nominated as an independent director, according to a regulatory filing ahead of the company’s annual meeting April 27 in Montreal.
Mittleman was unhappy with Aimia’s sale of its Nectar business to British retailer Sainsbury and had indicated it may push for changes at the company. His firm owns nearly 15 per cent of Aimia, according to Thomson Reuters.
In conjunction with the nomination of Mittleman and Rabe, Aimia said it has signed a standstill agreement with the investment firm…

BANGKOK _ Ride-hailing giant Uber is selling its business in Southeast Asia to regional rival Grab while gaining a robust stake in the fast-growing ridesharing, food delivery and financial services business.
Grab said Monday that Uber will take a 27.5 per cent stake and a seat on its board as part of the deal. Financial details were not disclosed.
Since becoming Uber’s CEO in September, Dara Khosrowshahi has been manoeuvring to make the company profitable before a planned initial public offering expected next year.
The company’s full-year net loss widened to $4.5 billion in 2017 as it endured multiple scandals and the departure of its co-founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick.
The deal enables Uber to keep a foothold in the increasingly affluent market of 640 million people while cutting its losses.
“It will help us double down on our plans for growth as we invest heavily in our products and technology to create the best customer experience on the planet,” Khosrowshahi said in a statement…