NMC Resource Corp, a portfolio company of Korean private equity firm KTB Private Equity, has completed its previously announced going private transaction. An existing investor in the Canadian mining company, Dong Won Corp, has acquired all of the outstanding securities not already owned by it or KTB for a cash payment of $0.20 per share. Based in Vancouver, NMC has molybdenum assets in British Columbia and South Korea.
4 min read · 17 February 2015
Stagnito Business Information has bought several Canadian conferences and tradeshows from Fulcrum Media Inc, a specialist in data analytics, promotions, and consumer media based in Toronto. The events acquired include Pharmacy U, The Convenience U Carwacs Show, Le Salon Dépanneurs, Épicuries & Cie and The Canadian Coffee & Tea Show. The financial terms of the deal were not published. Stagnito, a U.S. media and information services company focused on the grocery and convenience store industries, is backed by U.S. private equity firm Topspin Partners. Topspin acquired the business in November 2011.
3 min read · 17 February 2015
U.S. consumer goods marketing agency Acosta Inc has agreed to buy Higgins Cohn Brand Management, a natural foods sales company based in Woodbridge, Ontario. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Acosta said the deal, which is expected to close next month, will expand its reach in the natural and specialty sales channel in Canada. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, Acosta is a portfolio company of U.S. private equity firm The Carlyle Group. Carlyle acquired the business from Thomas H. Lee Partners in July 2014.
2 min read · 17 February 2015
Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd, the Canadian property and casualty insurer run by contrarian investor Prem Watsa, said it would buy Brit Plc for about US$1.88 billion to become one of the top five underwriters on the Lloyd's of London market, Reuters reported. Fairfax received hard irrevocable undertakings to accept the offer from entities managed by Apollo Global and CVC Capital Partners, which together hold about 73 percent of Brit's share capital.
2 min read · 17 February 2015
Big private equity deals have fallen through or had to be reworked in recent weeks because many banks, under U.S. regulatory pressure to reduce their risk-taking, are no longer willing to provide as much debt as their clients want. Last month, a potential US$7 billion acquisition of Canadian satellite company Telesat Holdings Inc by Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Public Sector Pension Investment Board was scuppered by financing issues, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
4 min read · 13 February 2015
U.S. private equity firm TPG has agreed to buy Aptalis Pharmaceutical Technologies, a pharmaceutical outsourcing and R&D business within Actavis plc's subsidiary Aptalis. The financial terms of the deal, which is expected to close in mid-2015, were not released. TPG said it intends to use the company as a platform to enter into new partnerships and make additional acquisitions to grow the business. TPG previously owned Aptalis, which was created by Montréal-based Axcan Pharma Inc in 2011. The company was sold to Forest Laboratories Inc for US$2.9 billion in 2014. In the same year, Forest Laboratories was acquired by Actavis.
5 min read · 13 February 2015
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), one of the world's biggest pension funds, has reported gross investment returns of 3.3 percent for its fiscal third quarter as strength in global equity markets boosted returns, Reuters reported. CEO Mark Wiseman said CPPIB's private investments also bolstered returns. The pension fund's net assets now stand at $238.8 billion.
1 min read · 13 February 2015
Stingray Digital Group has purchased Groupe Viva, a Boisbriand, Québec-based provider of digital signage solutions for retailers, restaurants, hotels, tourism associations and other businesses. The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. Stingray said the acquisition will allow it to deliver a more complete end-to-end-service for its commercial clients. Based in Montréal, Stingray is a multi-platform music services company. It is majority-owned by Canadian private equity firm Novacap, Telesystem and Boyko Investment Corp.
3 min read · 12 February 2015
Avison Young Inc has bought Peregrin Inc, a real estate management company based in Calgary. The financial terms of the deal were not released. Avison said the acquisiton expands its business-line coverage in Western Canada and adds about 1 million square feet of property under management to its global portfolio. Based in Toronto, Avison is a commercial real estate services specialist and a portfolio investment of Canadian private equity firm Tricor Pacifc Capital. Last year, Tricor made a second growth investment in the company, adding to the original $40 million that it invested in 2011.
6 min read · 12 February 2015
Goldman Sachs Group Inc on Wednesday named Alison Mass and Alasdair Warren global co-heads of its financial sponsors group, which advises private equity firms on their deals, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.
1 min read · 12 February 2015
