Victory Park Capital, which has been expected back to market to raise a Fund III, added a fifth partner to its roster this week, tapping former GE Capital Managing Director Jason Brown to head a new Los Angeles office expected to expand further.
2 min read · 03 July 2014
The Virginia Retirement System disclosed $280 million in private equity commitments at its board meeting last week, a tally that includes $250 million earmarked for firms that make a specialty of operational turnarounds, a spokesperson told Buyouts.
2 min read · 03 July 2014
Canadian private equity firm SeaFort Capital has made a majority investment in Titanium Tubing Technology Ltd, a provider of coil tubing and nitrogen pumping services to oil and gas producers in Western Canada. The financial terms of the transaction were not released. Founded in 2006, the Lloydminster, Saskatchewan-based Titanium will continue to be led by CEO Pat Potter and COO Cory Potter, who have significant ongoing investments in the company. Executive Pat Powell also invested in Titanium and will serve as chairman. Other portfolio investments of the Halifax-based SeaFort include A.W. Leil Holdings Ltd, which was acquired in 2012.
2 min read · 03 July 2014
Lululemon Athletica Inc founder Dennis Wilson's advisers have been talking to private equity firms including Leonard Green & Partners to find out if they are interested in buying the fashionable Canadian yoga gear maker, Reuters reported citing an earlier report by the Wall Street Journal. The buyout would face trouble given the premium that would be needed over the company's US$6 billion market capitalization. Before going public in 2007, Lululemon was a portfolio company of U.S. private equity firms Advent International and Highland Capital Partners.
2 min read · 03 July 2014
Connor Clark & Lunn GVest Traditional Infrastructure (CC&L Infrastructure), as part of the Tandem Health Partners consortium, has made an equity investment in the North Island Hospitals Project, a $606 million initiative to design, build, finance and maintain two new LEED-gold-certified hospitals in North Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Construction of the new hospitals will commence in July and is expected to be completed in 2017. Gracorp Capital Advisors is another member the Tandem Health group. CC&L Infrastructure is an affiliate of Canadian asset manager Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group.
3 min read · 03 July 2014
Before backing your next fund, the Teacher Retirement System of Texas wants to understand your firm’s culture.
2 min read · 02 July 2014
Holloway Lodging Corp (TSX: HLC) has completed its previously announced acquisition of Royal Host Inc, a Halifax, Nova Scotia-based hotel operator and portfolio company of Canadian private investment firm Clarke Inc. Holloway paid a total of $16.4 million in cash and issued more than 1.6 million common shares as consideration in the transaction. Holloway is a Halifax-based real estate company focused on acquiring, owning and operating limited service lodging properties and full service hotels.
10 min read · 02 July 2014
ComWest Enterprise Corp (TSXV: CWP) has completed its previously announced acquisition of a 100 percent equity interest in Unisync Group Ltd. The deal, which eventually will see Unisync merged with ComWest's Peerless Garments LP, is valued at $13 million, including debt. Since 2003, the Mississauga, Ontario-based Unisync, a provider of uniforms, work wear, image apparel and related products, has been a portfolio company of Canadian private equity firm Kilmer Capital Partners. Kilmer will continue to hold an interest in the business.
3 min read · 02 July 2014
Mergers and acquisitions in Canada's energy sector have rebounded from a dull 2013 and look poised for a further pickup, driven by the country's rapidly developing shale oil and gas properties rather than its better known oil sands, Reuters reported. Six months in 2014, merger activity in the domestic sector of about US$15 billion has already topped last year's total. The current round of acquisition activity has become more focused compared with prior years, with buyers looking for targets operating in specific geographic regions.
4 min read · 02 July 2014
Tuckamore Capital Management, which invests in early- and mid-stage private companies, said on Wednesday it believes a leading proxy advisory firm's recommendation against a proposed management-led buyout of Tuckamore is flawed, Reuters reported. The buyout plan, backed by Canadian private equity firm Birch Hill Equity Partners, already has faced opposition from shareholders that control close to 30 percent of Tuckamore's shares. Tuckamore announced in May that senior management, with the support of Birch Hill, agreed to acquire the firm in a deal that valued it at about $60 million.
2 min read · 02 July 2014
