Chartwell selling 14 retirement residences across Ontario for $65.9M + MORE Mar 11th

With 30 years of investment experience, a founding partner of Synergy Mutual Funds (acquired by CI Financial in 2003), former Chairman of Sprott Asset Management LP, Editor of Canadian MoneySaver and CEO of 5i Research, Peter Hodson has a lot to share.  Read on for Part 1 in my interview with Peter.
My Own Advisor:  Thanks again for this interview Peter.  So, where and when did investing begin for you?
I actually bought my first stock when I was 11, in Ottawa. It was Mitel Corp., an Ottawa company. I had a paper route, and scraped together $300. Mitel took off, and in 18 months my $300 was worth $1400 or so. I thought that was a much better way of making money than carrying newspapers around every day. Alas, though, I sold Mitel, and decided (for some reason only a 12-year old might come up with) to buy a company called Vulcan Packaging. It made explosive-proof containers, or something like that. In a year, my $1400 was back down to $300. I decided I needed to find out what had just happened to all my money…

Vladimir Fedorin warned Forbes Media against allowing Sergey Kurchenko to buy the magazine, and now the businessman is being investigated for embezzlement

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How investors may be getting fooled by buybacks
NEW YORK (AP) — If you’re puzzled why the U.S. stock market has risen so fast in a slow-growing economy, consider the stock buyback.
Companies are increasingly engaged in massive stock buyback programs, which reduce the number of its shares in circulation by purchasing them from investors. Spreading earnings over fewer shares translates into higher earnings per share.
It’s a common practice but is one that has exaggerated the health of many companies. Critics say the obsessive focus on buybacks has led companies to put off replacing plant and equipment, funding research and development, and generally doing the kind of spending needed to produce long-term profits.
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US House committee investigating GM recall
DETROIT (AP) — A congressional committee is investigating the way General Motors and a federal safety agency handled a deadly ignition switch problem.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton of Michigan says the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration received a large number of complaints about the problem during the past decade…

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – Chartwell Retirement Residences (TSX:CSH.UN) is selling what it calls a non-core portfolio of 14 retirement residences in Ontario for $65.9 million.
The sale price of the residences, comprised of 945 suites, includes the assumption of mortgages with an outstanding balance of some $19.5 million by the purchaser, who was not identified.
Chartwell will provide vendor take-back mortgages against certain properties in the amount of $6 million, the company .
Closing of the transaction is expected in the second quarter of 2014.
“The sale of this Portfolio is in line with our strategy to divest assets that we consider non-core,” Chartwell president and CEO Brent Binions said in announcing the deal Tuesday, adding that his company would work with the purchaser “to minimize the impact of the transition on residents and staff.”
Following is the list of properties being sold: Atrium Retirement Residence, Orillia; Atrium Villa Retirement Residence, Hamilton; Cobourg Retirement Residence, Cobourg; Devonshire Retirement Residence, Windsor; Gravenhurst Retirement Residence, Gravenhurst; Maple Court Retirement Residence, Walkerton; Mayfield Retirement Residence, Prescott; Oxford Manor Retirement Residence, Ingersoll; Park Place Retirement Residence Woodstock; Peterborough Retirement Residence, Peterborough; Tillsonburg Retirement Residence, Tillsonburg; Willoughby Manor Retirement Residence, Niagara Falls, and the Millwood Retirement Residence and the Teddington Park Retirement Residence, both in Toronto…

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