Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Brookfield Property Partners have upped their joint bid for Songbird Estates, the owner of London's Canary Wharf financial district, with an offer that values the company at 2.6 billion pounds (US$4.1 billion), Reuters reported. In a separate statement, Brookfield also announced that QIA had acquired a 9 percent stake in it.
3 min read · 04 December 2014
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has led a second $80 million investment in Alt Canada Investment Fund LP, a vehicle that will allow Groupe Germain Inc to develop its Alt Hotels brand across Canada. Investors that joined the deal included Investissement Québec, La Capitale Financial Group, Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc, Fonds de solidarité FTQ and DNA Capital. A family-run business founded in Québec City, Groupe Germain owns and operates the Canadian network of Le Germain Hotels and the no-frills-chic Alt Hotels.
6 min read · 04 December 2014
TierPoint LLC has completed its previously announced purchase of Xand, a portfolio company of U.S. private equity firm ABRY Partners. The acquisition, the value of which was not disclosed, was backed by Teachers’ Private Capital, the private equity arm of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, and other investors. Based in St. Louis, Missouri, TierPoint is a provider of cloud, colocation and managed services. It said the acquisition of Xand significantly expands its data centre capacity.
3 min read · 04 December 2014
The previously announced acquisition of Accelerated Rehabilitation Centers, a U.S. outpatient rehabilitation services company, by Athletico Physical Therapy has been completed. The transaction’s financial details were not disclosed, however, one source has put the value at US$450 million. As reported by peHUB Canada in November, the deal provides an exit to OMERS Private Equity, which bought Accelerated in partnership with management in July 2011. Athletico, a Chicago-based orthopedic rehabilitation services specialist, was been backed by U.S. private equity firm Harvest Partners since May 2014.
3 min read · 04 December 2014
The outgoing chief executive of Alberta Investment Management Corp (AIMCo), has said oil sands producers need to cut production costs through new technology as US$70 crude is here to stay, Reuters reported. The AIMCo head urged the energy industry to use the slide in prices as an opportunity to invest in unproven technology that will boost productivity.
2 min read · 03 December 2014
Samantha Horn, a partner with Canadian law firm Stikeman Elliott LLP, has received the Women's Executive Network's 2014 Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award. Horn is co-head of Stikeman's M&A and private equity practice group in Toronto. The is also a former co-chair and an active supporter of the Canadian Women in Private Equity committee of the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA).
2 min read · 03 December 2014
Hub Financial Inc, a subsidiary of Hub International Ltd, has acquired the shares of MGA Partners Inc, a managing general agency with offices located in Ontario and Atlantic Canada. The financial details of the transaction were not published. Hub, a Chicago-based insurance brokerage with significant operations in Canada, said the deal broadens its footprint in the country's eastern provinces, as well as its reach to financial advisors and insurance brokers. The company has been backed by U.S. private equity firm Hellman & Friedman since 2013.
3 min read · 03 December 2014
Canadian medical company CRH Medical Corp (TSX: CRH) has secured a US$20 million sub-secured loan from Crown Capital Partners, a Canadian provider of alternative debt financing for private equity-backed and non-sponsored mid-market transactions. The deal adds to a US$30 million secured loan extended to CRH by Knight Therapeutics Inc, as well as funding from other sources. The Vancouver-based CRH, which develops products for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases, will use the credit facilities and other monies to finance its purchase of U.S.-based Gastroenterology Anesthesia Associates LLC. The acquisition is valued at a maximum of US$73.2 million.
7 min read · 03 December 2014
H&R Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX: HR) has agreed to sell a 50 percent interest in its Canadian industrial properties and a 49.5 percent interest in its U.S. industrial properties to the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP) and Crestpoint Real Estate Investments, an affiliate of Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group. The total purchase price is around $731 million. The deals, which are expected to close in two tranches in December 2014 and February 2015, will see the Toronto-based H&R remain the property manager.
5 min read · 03 December 2014
Canadian private equity firm Onex Corp has increased its capital commitment to its fourth partnership, Onex Partners IV, to US$1.7 billion from US$1.2 billion. As a result, the fund now totals US$5.66 billion, with Onex as its largest investor. Last May, Onex closed Fund IV at US$5.15 billion, 14 percent more than its original target of US$4.5 billion. In November, the fund announced its premiere investment: Advanced Integration Technology Inc (AIT), a U.S. provider of automation and tooling, maintenance services, and aircraft components to the aerospace industry.
2 min read · 03 December 2014
