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CPP loses bigly on San Fran office property

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has suffered a significant loss following the sale of its stake in a San Francisco office complex. 

The pension fund sold its 45% share in the 1455 Market St. property to Hudson Pacific Properties (NYSE: HPP) for $43.5 million, a mere fraction of the $219 million it had invested in 2015. The sale was first reported by the San Francisco Business Times.

The building, which once housed the headquarters of tech giants Uber and Block (formerly Square), has seen its value plummet by approximately 80% due to the departure of these high-profile tenants. The pandemic drastically altered the office landscape in San Francisco, with many companies embracing remote work and reducing their need for downtown office space.

You can read more on the matter here.

What’s going on?

• Jack Dorsey Leaves Bluesky Board, Unfollows Almost Everyone on X (theDeepDive)

• China increases aggressive moves against Taiwan as island prepares to inaugurate new president (FOX)

• Mark Zuckerberg considered acquiring or permanently funding The Associated Press (Business Insider)

• TD Bank: Jefferies Analyst Suggests Fines Could Exceed $2.0 Billion In Money Laundering Probe (theDeepDive)

• More Immigrants Recruited to Aid Trudeau’s Homebuilding Ambition (Bloomberg)

• Weekly mortgage refinance demand rose 5% after a slight dip in mortgage rates (CNBC)

• Is the Capital Gains Tax Change Flooding the Housing Market with Listings? (theDeepDive)

• TikTok, ByteDance sue to block U.S. law forcing sale (Globe)

• World’s Biggest Nuclear-Fusion Project Plans to Reset Without UK (Bloomberg)

• Bank of America Faces Strike Rumors After Death of A Junior Banker (theDeepDive)

What’s the latest?

• FTX Recoveries: FTX has announced that nearly all of its customers should be able to recover the funds they are owed. In a recent court filing, FTX reported it has liabilities amounting to approximately $11.2 billion against assets ranging between $14.5 billion to $16.3 billion available for distribution. Customers with claims of $50,000 or less are set to receive about 118% of their claim value, covering approximately 98% of FTX customers.

• Tesla Fraud?: U.S. prosecutors are investigating whether Tesla misled investors and consumers about the capabilities of its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving systems, according to sources familiar with the matter. The investigation, which was first reported by Reuters in October 2022, focuses on potential wire and securities fraud related to claims that Tesla's cars could drive themselves.

• Disneyland Expansion: Disney's plan to revamp its 490-acre Southern California theme parks has received the green light from the Anaheim City Council, marking a significant development strategy for Disneyland since the 1990s. The approved proposal, estimated to cost $1.9B, does not expand the parks' physical footprint but rather restructures the existing space to accommodate new entertainment venues and rides.

• Work From Home Whining: The Public Service Alliance of Canada is preparing formal complaints against the federal government's new directive that mandates federal public servants to return to office settings for at least three days each week starting September 9. This change represents an increase from the current requirements, which generally demand a two or three-day office presence, flexible across a month. PSAC argues that this directive violates collective agreements.

• US AI Lockdown: The Biden administration is considering implementing new restrictions on the export of advanced AI models to address national security concerns, particularly related to China. These potential regulations would focus on proprietary or closed-source AI models, which are not publicly accessible and involve software and data that are kept confidential.

Bruce Linton on rescheduling cannabis

The stock market and stuff

• First Majestic Silver Sees $106 Million In Revenue In Q1 (theDeepDive)

• Reddit shares soar as earnings show advertising, AI licensing revenue potential (Reuters)

• Shopify shares sink as company posts Q1 loss, forecasts slower revenue growth (BNN)

• Uber Swings to Loss Despite Rising Revenue (WSJ)

• NexGen Energy Purchases Physical Uranium Worth US$250 Million In Deal With MMCap (theDeepDive)

In the juniors

• Sigma Lithium Increases Proven And Probable Reserves To 77.0 Million Tonnes At 1.40% Li2O (theDeepDive)

• Brunswick Exploration Hits 1.55% Li2O Over 93 Metres (theDeepDive)

• NioCorp Receives Preliminary Term Sheet On $800 Million Debt Financing For Niobium Project (theDeepDive)

• First Phosphate Enters LOI For Rapidwall Manufacturing Plant To Utilize Gypsum Bi-Product (theDeepDive)

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