Groupe V Média, the owner of French-language television network V, has bought specialty channels MusiquePlus and MusiMax from Bell Media Inc for an undisclosed amount. The Québec entertainment company was supported in the transaction by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Fonds de solidarité des travailleurs du Québec FTQ and Investissement Québec, which invested $30 million to re-launch MusiquePlus and MusiMax and to expand Groupe V Média. With the joint investment, the three investors have become shareholders in the new multichannel broadcasting business.
3 min read · 17 September 2014
The $300 million sale of Wind Mobile to a group of private equity investors will need to be followed by hefty investment and further deals before Canada`s No. 4 wireless provider poses a significant threat to its much larger competitors, Reuters reported. Wind Mobile founder Anthony Lacavera said the carrier would now focus on improving service and had no big expansion plans.
3 min read · 17 September 2014
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan is buying out co-shareholder Australian asset manager Macquarie Group Ltd in Bristol Airport, giving the Canadian institutional investor complete control of the U.K.'s ninth busiest airport, Reuters reported. Although the companies did not disclose financial terms of the deal, a source said Ontario Teachers could spend up to US$408 million to buy Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund's 50 percent stake. The deal is expected to close this month.
2 min read · 17 September 2014
Alexander Singh has joined Toronto-based merchant bank and advisory firm Acasta Capital, assuming the roles of director and general counsel. Singh was previously a general counsel at West Face Capital, a Canadian alternative investment manager that combines control-through-distressed, high-yield, negotiated finance, proactive equity and private equity activity. West Face also has its headquarters in Toronto.
2 min read · 16 September 2014
Carfinco Financial Group Inc (TSX: CFN), an Edmonton-based specialist in auto financing, has agreed to be bought by Spain's Banco Santander SA for $298 million in cash. The acquisition, which has been recommended to shareholders by the company's board of directors, is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Santander said the deal would allow the retail and commercial bank to gain entry and growth opportunities in the Canadian market. Santander is a portfolio company of U.S. private equity firms General Atlantic and Warburg Pincus. In 2013, the two investors acquired a large stake in the company in a deal that valued it at US$2.7 billion.
7 min read · 16 September 2014
Texas’s biggest power company, the bankrupt Energy Future Holdings, soon will present plans to auction its majority stake in its Oncor power distribution unit, a business that could be worth $20 billion or more including debt.
2 min read · 16 September 2014
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the largest U.S. pension fund, has decided to pull all $4 billion it has invested in hedge funds because it finds them too costly and complicated.
3 min read · 16 September 2014
First West Capital, the mezzanine and subordinated debt lending arm of Canadian credit union First West Credit Union, recently provided funding to Arctic Chiller. The financial terms of the transaction were not published. The Edmonton, Alberta-based company is an established custom-label bottled water supplier owned and operated by the Hygaard family. Its partnership with First West Capital is intended to finance an investment in Arctic Chiller's facilities and purchase new high-speed equipment.
2 min read · 15 September 2014
Intrawest Resorts Holdings Inc (NYSE: SNOW) has agreed to acquire the 50 percent interest in Blue Mountain Ski Resort that it does not currently own from Blue Mountain Resorts Holdings Inc for $58 million. A ski resort with summer amenities located northwest of Toronto, Blue Mountain was been affiliated with Intrawest since 1999, when the mountain resort and adventure company acquired its original 50 percent interest. With principal Canadian offices in Vancouver and Banff, Alberta, Intrawest is a portfolio investment of U.S. private equity firm Fortress Investment Group. The company went public in January.
6 min read · 15 September 2014
Billionaire William Ackman has signed up Allergan investors that combined own at least 35 percent of the company to call a special shareholder meeting, giving the hedge fund manager a victory in his fight to acquire the Botox maker, Reuters reported. Ackman, whose Pershing Square Capital Management is Allergan's largest shareholder with a 9.7 percent stake, has teamed up with Canada's Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc to pursue a hostile takeover bid for the U.S.-based Allergan.
3 min read · 15 September 2014
