Fine dining

Good morning. If you messed up at your job recently and are feeling sore about it, know that things could always be worse. Case in point: Tunisia’s men’s football team has fired its manager, Sabri Lamouchi, after the squad lost 5-1 to Sweden in its FIFA World Cup opener.

That’s right, they didn’t even wait for the tournament to be over before they sacked him. That’s like if you got fired in the middle of a sales call… and that sales call also happened to be the single most important one you’ve ever been a part of. Spare a thought for the guy. 

Today’s reading time is 5½ minutes.

Markets: The markets had a great outing yesterday following Sunday’s news that the U.S. and Iran had brokered a peace deal; Canada’s main stock index even hit a new record high.

1Password could be 1Step closer to going public. 

What happened: Canadian cybersecurity company 1Password is acquiring the New York-based firm Apono for an undisclosed amount. It’s the unicorn’s fifth acquisition and third in the past three years.

Catch-up: 1Password is primarily known for providing secure password management for corporate clients big and small. Over the years, it has substantially grown the scope of its product, crossing the US$400 million threshold for annual recurring revenue last year. 

Why it matters: In November, CEO David Faugno told BetaKit “we could be public today,” but the firm wants to bolster its offerings to keep up with the AI landscape, providing “a level of predictability” for future investors. This deal will help the company meet that goal, which could result in one of the biggest Canadian IPOs in recent memory.

Our take: With many companies now going public with business cases relying so much on hypotheticals (we can think of one recent example), it’s nice to see a Canadian company with a proven business model actually building on top of what it already has before taking the leap.—QH

Ottawa is in talks with Chinese EV makers to build vehicles in Canada. Industry Minister Mélanie Joly is in China for the next few days, where she will be meeting with four EV makers, including BYD and Chery, about a possible Canadian investment. Joly has invited Chinese companies to produce EVs at Canadian plants, but has so far insisted that the cars must use Canadian parts, adhere to Canada’s labour standards, and that the joint venture must be majority Canadian-owned. Any deal to bring a Chinese EV maker to Canada would almost certainly become a trade irritant with the U.S. (Globe and Mail)

Fox is buying Roku for US$22 billion. The legacy media giant has agreed to buy streaming company Roku in a deal that will create one of the largest free streaming platforms in the world. In addition to its ad-supported streaming service, Roku’s operating system is already installed on millions of smart TVs, putting the company in 100 million living rooms globally. Fox already owns Roku’s rival Tubi, which boasts nearly 100 million of its own monthly users. (Axios)

Canada saw a large drop in opioid deaths last year. The country’s top doctor revealed yesterday that opioid deaths in Canada declined by 23% between 2024 and last year, the second consecutive year of decline. Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Joss Reimer said that a crackdown on the illegal drug supply and broader access to naloxone — a medication that can reverse the effects of an overdose — played a major role. (CBC News)

📡 What else is on our radar: 

What they’re saying: “There’s just so much that we can do to help Canadian companies get on a different growth track, and that’s going to be a huge focus of this initiative,” JPMorgan Chase Canada CEO David Rawlings told the Globe and Mail. He was referring to the decision to expand the bank’s US$1.5 trillion industrial investment initiative to Canada. 

Why it matters: Earlier this month, the head of Canada’s top banking regulator called on Canada’s big banks to lend more to small businesses, directly citing JPMorgan’s initiative, saying “Well, wouldn’t it be great if we had some Canadian banks step up and make the same commitment to Canada?” Well, he partly got his wish (and maybe the Big Six will follow suit, too).  

From airport lounges to concert tickets to Friday night dinner reservations, credit cards these days are less about paying for life’s finer things and more about getting access to them. 

What happened: American Express is buying European restaurant booking platform TheFork for US$700 million, adding to a portfolio that already includes the popular reservation systems Resy and Tock. With TheFork’s restaurants, Amex says it now has a network of over 75,000 dining venues. 

Why it matters: Restaurants were the No. 1 spending category for young people last year. In an era where social media can make tables at buzzy spots impossible to book, priority access through Amex or other credit cards has become a cultural currency that a lot of folks are happy to pay for. 

Zoom in: Out of all the incentives, priority access to high profile restaurants has proven to be one of the most attractive perks that a credit card or loyalty program can offer, and getting trendy restaurants on board is a big part of bringing in new, affluent customers. 

Our take: Right now, credit cards can get you priority access to these restaurants, but most tables on the booking platforms are still open to the public. As this dinner reservation economy continues to grow, it wouldn’t be shocking to see a lot more tables at restaurants set aside for swanky credit card holders (and fewer left open for everyone else).—LA

🏀 8,000. New York Knicks championship merch orders placed on Fanatics per minute following the team's NBA Finals win on Saturday night. The Knicks fans clamouring for gear helped break Fanatics’ record for most championship merchandise sold in a 24-hour window.

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Lock in. It’s time to play today’s mini-crossword, the daily sudoku, Codebreaker, and Who’s Who.