Blackstone Group LP has reached out to its biggest fund investors about investing in a new investment vehicle with a longer investment horizon than the typical 10-year private equity fund, people familiar with the matter told Reuters news service.
4 min read · 18 November 2014
Aequitas Innovations Inc, a venture backed by some of Canada's biggest financial entities, has won approval from the country's main securities regulator to launch a new stock exchange seeking to challenge TMX Group Ltd's dominant Toronto Stock Exchange, Reuters reported. The exchange, called Neo, will attempt to address high-speed trading, costly data and lack of liquidity. It also has plans for a private marketplace to fund early-stage companies.
2 min read · 17 November 2014
JUST EAT Canada, a division of JUST EAT Group, has bought Delivery Town, a food delivery and pickup business located in Edmonton. The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. JUST EAT said the deal adds to its expansion in cities across Canada. Founded in 2000, JUST EAT Group is an online restaurant and food-ordering platform. The U.K.-based company, which went public in April, continues to be a portfolio investment of Index Ventures, Redpoint Ventures and Vitruvian Partners.
3 min read · 17 November 2014
Allergan Inc has agreed to be bought by Actavis Plc for US$66 billion, putting an end to a hostile bid by hedge fund investor William Ackman and Canada's Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc, Reuters reported. The deal comes after Allergan spent six months maneuvering against a takeover by Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management and Valeant.
1 min read · 17 November 2014
GFL Environmental Inc has completed a reorganization of its share capital that values the business at $950 million. As result of the reorganization, GFL founder Patrick Dovigi has increased his investment, while Canadian private equity firm Hawthorn Equity Partners retains it stake. A new investor, Highbridge Principal Strategies, has also taken a non-controlling equity interest and committed $50 million in growth capital. U.S. private equity firm Roark Capital Group, which has backed GFL since 2010, has sold its entire investment. Based in Vaughan, Ontario, GFL provides solid waste, soil remediation and liquid waste services. In January, the company bought The Garbage Company Inc.
3 min read · 17 November 2014
Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd said it would buy royalty company Virginia Mines Inc for about $479 million to create a company valued at $1.3 billion, Reuters reported. The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Fonds de solidarité FTQ have agreed to contribute to the deal with private placements totaling $70 million. Under the agreement, the Caisse and Fonds will share in all future royalty or stream transactions entered into by Osisko and Virginia.
2 min read · 17 November 2014
Canadian buyout firm Onex Corp is leading the bidding for Swiss packaging group SIG Combibloc Group, sources told Reuters. Onex is this week expected to pay roughly 3.6 billion euros (US$4.5 billion) for the world's second largest maker of drink cartons. The Toronto-based investor had been neck-on-neck with Swiss-based rival Partners Group, after BC Partners dropped out of the running, the sources said.
2 min read · 17 November 2014
Brazil, China and India still offer long-term investment value but a lot of global assets are fully priced and competing with huge sovereign wealth funds is getting harder, CPPIB chief executive Mark Wiseman told Reuters. Wiseman said market conditions remain difficult because assets are fairly priced, which means deal activity will be below average and CPPIB will have to "pick its spots" to find good investments.
2 min read · 14 November 2014
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has partnered with Hermes Real Estate in a new U.K.-based regional joint venture. The partnership includes the sale by Hermes to CPPIB of 50 percent of the development phase of Leeds' Wellington Place. Going forward, CPPIB and Hermes will commit equity to the project on an equal basis, with the gross development value to total more than £185 million (around $330 million). In June, CPPIB and Hermes agreed to buy the mixed-use development South Bank Tower in London.
4 min read · 14 November 2014
Pinnacle Foods Inc said it would buy Canadian plant-based protein food maker Garden Protein International Inc for $175 million from founder Yves Potvin and U.S. private equity firm TSG Consumer Partners LLC, Reuters reported. Vancouver-based Garden sells its products under the 'Gardein' brand, founded by Potvin in 2009. The brand is expected to generate net sales of about $65 million in 2014, Pinnacle said. The deal, including a manufacturing plant and nearly 250 employees, is expected to close this week.
2 min read · 14 November 2014
