Private Equity
Gerald Schwartz, founder, chairman and CEO of Canadian private equity firm Onex Corp, has been chosen to receive the International Horatio Alger Award in 2016. The award recognizes an individual who has persevered through challenges to become a successful entrepreneur and community leader. As a result, Schwartz will become a lifelong member of the Horatio Alger Association of Canada and its American affiliate. Schwartz founded Onex in 1984. Today, it has more than US$22 billion in assets under management, including US$6 billion of Onex capital, in private equity and credit securities.
3 min read · 02 December 2015
The Hayward Gordon Group has bought Scott Turbon Mixer Inc, an Adelanto, Calif.-based provider of steel mixers and mixing systems for applications in food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, chemical and other industries. No financial terms were released. Hayward Gordon, a maker of mixers, pumps and engineered systems for fluid handling applications, said the deal gives it "a more complete product offering" that will further its expansion in the United States. The Toronto-based company, which late last year acquired Sharpe Mixers Inc, has been a portfolio investment of U.S. private equity firm Element Partners since September 2013.
3 min read · 02 December 2015
Capital régional et coopératif Desjardins (CRCD) has acquired a minority equity position in Textiles Amalgamated Inc, a specialist in the design and distribution of home fashion products, including window curtains and decorative fabrics. No financial terms were disclosed. Founded in 2001, Montréal-based Textiles Amalgamated sells its products in retail chains across Canada and the United States. CRCD, managed by Canadian private equity firm Desjardins Capital de risque, raised $150 million from retail investors in 2015.
2 min read · 02 December 2015
INC Research Holdings Inc (Nasdaq: INCR), which went public in 2014, announced that Avista Capital Partners and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan intend to sell 6 million shares of the company's Class A common stock in a secondary deal. INC Research also agreed to repurchase about 3 million shares in a private transaction. As a result, Avista and Ontario Teachers will own less than 50 percent of total voting power. Raleigh, North Carolina-based INC Research, a clinical research organization that provides services to biopharmaceutical and medical device industries, was acquired by Avista and Ontario Teachers in 2010.
4 min read · 02 December 2015
Calgary-based 3esi has secured a growth investment from Rubicon Technology Partners, a U.S. private equity firm focused on lower mid-market enterprise software companies. The investment's value was not disclosed. Founded in 2005, 3esi is a provider of integrated portfolio, planning, and execution solutions for the upstream oil and gas industry. It plans to use its partnership with Rubicon to accelerate organic growth and undertake more strategic acquisitions. In September, the company bought Portfolio Decisions, a consulting and portfolio optimization software company. 3esi previously received funding from BDC Capital and other investors.
2 min read · 02 December 2015
AltaGas Ltd (TSX: ALA) has wrapped up its previously-announced acquisition of GWF Energy Holdings LLC, which holds a portfolio of three natural gas-fired electrical generation facilities in northern California. AltaGas bought GWF for US$642 million from Highstar Capital, a U.S. infrastructure investment firm. Based in Calgary, AltaGas is an energy infrastructure business with a focus on natural gas, power and regulated utilities.
4 min read · 01 December 2015
Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and Kinder Morgan Inc (NYSE: KMI) have agreed to jointly acquire a 53 percent interest in Natural Gas Pipeline Co of America LLC (NGPL), a U.S. interstate pipeline system that serves the Chicago market. The acquirers will pay about US$242 million to the majority stake's current owner, Myria Holdings Inc. The deal, which values the gas pipeline business at US$3.4 billion, including debt, is expected to close this year. It will see Brookfield Infrastructure, an affiliate of Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management, increase its NGPL ownership interest from about 27 percent to 50 percent.
5 min read · 01 December 2015
Sleep Country Canada Holdings Inc (TSX: ZZZ), which tied up an initial public offering earlier this year, has launched a secondary share offering. The offering, priced at $18.50 per share, will generate at least $185 million in gross proceeds for selling shareholders, which include Canadian private equity firm Birch Hill Equity Partners. Following the offering's close, expected on or about December 17, selling investors will hold an ownership interest in the company of about 18.9 percent or less. Sleep Country, a Toronto-based specialty mattress retailer, was taken private by Birch Hill, Westerkirk Capital and other investors in 2008.
4 min read · 01 December 2015
The Right Honourable Paul Martin, Canada's 21st Prime Minister, was recently named one of the recipients of the 2015 Startup Canada Awards. Martin was awarded the Adam Chowaniec Lifetime Achievement Award for his role in founding the CAPE Fund. Launched in 2009, the CAPE Fund is a $50 million private equity fund focused on investing in aboriginal enterprises and entrepreneurs. Its investments include Manitobah Mukluks, a footwear manufacturer, and One Earth Farms, an agri-food producer.
3 min read · 30 November 2015
Royalty financing firm Grenville Strategic Royalty Corp has bought out its investment in 4tell Solutions LP, a Toronto-based provider of performance governance software solutions and services for real estate and infrastructure organizations. Grenville, which invested in the company in late 2013, said it obtained an internal rate of return of about 42 percent and a 1.75 times cash on cash return. Earlier in November, 4tell announced it had secured an undisclosed growth investment from Rubicon Technology Partners, a U.S. investor in lower mid-market enterprise software businesses.
2 min read · 30 November 2015
