Private Equity
BayBridge Seniors Housing Inc, an affiliate of Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP), has closed its acquisition of Amica Mature Lifestyles Inc, a Canadian operator of seniors’ retirement residences. The deal, which took Amica private, was valued at about $578 million and will provide BayBridge with 25 luxury seniors' accomodations in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario under the Amica brand. The acquisition was led by Teachers' Private Capital, the private equity investment arm of OTPP.
2 min read · 21 December 2015
Ivanhoé Cambridge and the Blackstone Group have closed their joint acquisition of Peter Cooper Village Stuyvesant Town (PCVST), a private residential development on the east side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. No financial terms were disclosed; however, a Bloomberg report previously estimated the deal's value at about US$5.3 billion. Based in Montréal, Ivanhoé is the real estate investment arm of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.
3 min read · 21 December 2015
Stingray Digital Group Inc (TSX: RAY.A, RAY.B) has agreed to buy Switzerland's iConcerts, a television channel focused on live music that reaches 250 million households around the globe. No financial terms were released. Stingray, a Montréal-based multi-platform music and in-store media solutions provider, said the deal will make it "the world's largest broadcaster of live music concerts on television." Stingray raised $179.5 million in an initial public offering earlier this year. It continues be a portfolio company of Canadian private equity firm Novacap, Telesystem and other investors.
4 min read · 18 December 2015
RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX: REI.UN) has agreed to sell its portfolio of 49 retail properties in the Northeastern United States and Texas for $2.7 billion (US$1.9 billion). The deal, which is expected to close in April 2016, will see the properties go to a real estate private equity fund affiliated with the Blackstone Group. RioCan, a Canadian real estate investment trust, acquired the U.S. properties between 2009 and 2015 for about $1.7 billion. It said their sale was the result of a strategic review and will enable the business to focus on its domestic growth strategy and development pipeline.
10 min read · 18 December 2015
Waterton Global Resource Management, a Canadian mining private equity firm, has closed its previously announced purchase of Nevada mining assets from Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE, TSX: ABX). Waterton paid $110 million in cash for a 70 percent interest in the Spring Valley project and 100 percent of the Ruby Hill gold mine. In a separate statement, Waterton also announced it has closed its previously announced buy of Midway Gold Corp's 30 percent interest in the Spring Valley project for US$25 million in cash. Toronto-based Waterton raised over US$1 billion for its second fund, Waterton Global Precious Metals Fund II, in April 2014.
2 min read · 18 December 2015
Canadian dairy cooperative Agropur has received $300 million from a group of Québec investors, adding to the $470 million received in late 2014. The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, National Bank of Canada, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Investissement Québec, Capital régional et coopératif Desjardins and Fondaction CSN again combined in the financing deal. The Caisse accounted for half of the new money, bringing its total investment in Agropur to $300 million. Longueuil, Québec-based Agropur, which currently processes 5.4 billion litres of milk annually in 40 plants across North America, reports generating over $4.7 billion in sales. It will use the new funds to support continued growth.
5 min read · 17 December 2015
An affiliate of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) have jointly acquired a portfolio of core industrial properties held by Exeter Property Group. The deal, priced at US$3.15 billion, will see Exeter, a U.S. real estate investment management firm, invest in the joint venture and continue to manage the acquired assets. The portfolio consists of 209 U.S.-based industrial properties, most of which are bulk warehouses that support retailers, suppliers and wholesalers. Montréal-based PSP Investments has $112 billion of managed assets.
4 min read · 17 December 2015
Toronto-based specialty mattress retailer Sleep Country Canada Holdings Inc (TSX: ZZZ) has closed its previously-announced secondary offering of common shares. As a result of the deal, selling shareholders, which include Canadian private equity firm Birch Hill Equity Partners, obtained gross proceeds of $185 million. With the offering's close, the selling shareholders now hold about 18.9 percent of the company's total ownership interest. Sleep Country, acquired by Birch Hill and other investors in 2008, went public earlier this year.
4 min read · 17 December 2015
Shaw Communications Inc has agreed to buy Toronto-based wireless firm Wind Mobile Corp for $1.6 billion. The sellers include Canadian hedge fund investor West Face Capital, Globalive Capital, the investment arm of Wind founder Anthony Lacavera, U.S. private equity firm Tennenbaum Capital Partners, and the family office of Lawrence Guffey. The deal is expected to close in the first half of next year. Wind is a subsidiary of Mid-Bowline Group Corp. It was acquired by a consortium of investors for $300 million in 2014.
2 min read · 17 December 2015
J.P. Morgan Asset Management and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan have closed their joint acquisition of Koole Terminals, an energy storage company in Northwestern Europe, from EQT Infrastructure. No financial terms were released; however, Reuters reported in September that Koole's potential sale valued the business at more than 1 billion euros (US$1.1 billion). Members of the Koole family and the senior management team are expected to retain an ownership interest in the company, which is based in Zaandam, The Netherlands. According to Reuters, a number of infrastructure and private equity firms, including Borealis Infrastructure, were bidding for Koole.
3 min read · 16 December 2015
