Brookfield Infrastructure is to buy a 50 percent stake in the French unit of telecoms masts group TDF for 1.78 billion euros (US$2.2 billion) alongside several partners, Reuters reported. Reuters reported earlier in the week that a deal had been agreed to sell the whole of TDF's French unit, owned by private equity firms TPG, Ardian, Charterhouse, and other investors, to a Canadian consortium for 3.5 billion euros (US$4.40 billion).
1 min read · 06 November 2014
Stephen Moore, formerly a director at Alvarez & Marsal, has been hired as an investment director at Re:Capital Canada, a distressed investment platform launched in 2013 by British private equity firm Hilco Capital. His arrival comes at a time when Re:Capital Canada has been looking for new opportunities to acquire distressed debt or distressed businesses in the Canadian market.
1 min read · 06 November 2014
Appian Natural Resources Fund, a metals and mining private equity fund affiliated with U.K.-based Appian Capital Advisory, has acquired additional shares of Roxgold Inc (TSXV: ROG), a Canadian gold exploration and development company. Appian acquired around 6.3 percent of Roxgold's issued and outstanding common shares, with the result that it now holds around 18.4 percent of total issued and outstanding shares. Based in Toronto, Roxgold is focused on its Yaramoko Gold Project located in the Houndé greenstone region of Burkina Faso, West Africa.
2 min read · 05 November 2014
The previously announced acquisition of DTZ by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, PAG Asia Capital and TPG Capital has been closed. Reuters previously reported the value of the transaction to be US$1.1 billion. As a result of the deal, the Chicago-based DTZ, formerly a subsidiary of Australian engineering services provider UGL Ltd, will operate as an independent, privately owned property services business. In September, the company agreed to merge with Cassidy Turley, a U.S. commercial real estate services provider. That acquisition, which is expected to be wrapped up by the end of this year, is backed by Ontario Teachers, PAG and TPG.
5 min read · 05 November 2014
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan has promoted Rosemarie McClean to the newly created role of senior vice president and chief operations officer (COO). McClean, who was previously senior vice president for members services, will now be responsible for operational activities and their integration and deployment across the pension fund organization. Based in Toronto, Ontario Teachers had net assets of approximately $141 billion at the end of 2013.
1 min read · 05 November 2014
The Canadian government has approved the sale of Wind Mobile to a private equity consortium led by founder Anthony Lacavera, Reuters reported. Industry Minister James Moore said that in order to win approval, the new owners agreed to spend heavily to buy airwaves and grow their business while keeping a suitably Canadian corporate profile.
2 min read · 05 November 2014
U.S. mid-market private equity firm Friedman Fleischer & Lowe (FFL) has closed its buy of Icynene Group Ltd, a Mississauga, Ontario-based manufacturer and distributor of spray polyurethane foam insulation products. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Update: The company said the partnership with FFL will lend resources and expertise to help it grow and capture new market opportunities.
3 min read · 05 November 2014
A new definition of middle-market funds established by the Association for Corporate Growth sets the stage for a more targeted lobbying effort to try to ease regulation seen as overly restrictive, such as a provision of Dodd-Frank preventing banks from committing money to most buyout funds. But by leaving some big firms behind, the effort poses the risk of giving the industry a less unified voice in Washington, D.C.
4 min read · 04 November 2014
Canadian pension fund PSP Investments and its partners have agreed to buy the French operations of telecoms masts group TDF in a deal worth about 3.5 billion euros (US$4.40 billion), sources told Reuters. The transaction will help TDF's owners - private equity funds TPG, Charterhouse, Ardian and state bank Bpifrance - to repay almost all of the group's debt. PSP's investment partners in the acquisition are said to include Brookfield Asset Management.
2 min read · 04 November 2014
Onex Credit Partners LLC, the credit investing arm of Canadian private equity firm Onex Corp, has priced its seventh collateralized loan obligation (CLO), offering US$514 million of securities in a private placement transaction. Onex bought a majority of the equity in the deal. Upon the close of the offering, Onex Credit Partners will manage more than US$5 billion in senior secured loans and high yield bonds in a variety of strategies.
2 min read · 04 November 2014
