TreeHouse Foods Inc (NYSE: THS) has closed its $170 million buy of Protenergy Natural Foods Corp, a Richmond, Ontario-based manufacturer of food and beverage products, such as private label broths, soups and gravies. TreeHouse said the deal is expected to have a US$0.05 to US$0.07 impact on its 2014 earnings per share. The sellers in the deal were Canadian private equity firm Whitecastle Investments, the firm's partnership Whitecap Venture Partners, and other investors. Protenergy is also a portfolio company of Canadian alternative assets investor Kensington Capital Partners. Based in Toronto, Whitecastle is a family-owned investment vehicle.
3 min read · 02 June 2014
Canadian mid-market private equity firm TriWest Capital Partners has agreed to sell three industrial properties in Alberta to Edgefront Real Estate Investment Trust (TSXV: ED.UN) for around $36.7 million. The properties are being sold through two TriWest portfolio companies, Triple M Housing Ltd, which TriWest acquired last year, and Northern Mat & Bridge LP, which has been backed by the firm since 2012. Edgefront is acquiring the assets on a sale-leaseback basis from the tenant owners on 15-year lease terms. Last November, Edgefront struck a $68 million property deal with a former TriWest portfolio company, RTL Westcan LP.
7 min read · 02 June 2014
Canadian private equity firm Mosaic Capital Corp has completed its previously announced acquisition of a majority interest in Streamline Mechanical (1981) Ltd and Streamline Projects Inc. Financial details of the transaction were not published. With offices in Sherwood Park and Fort McMurray, Alberta, Streamline is a provider of site maintenance services and civil construction services to the oil and gas industry. Founded in 1974, the company had revenues of approximately $50 million for the year ended Sept. 30, 2013.
10 min read · 02 June 2014
Entertainment One Ltd (LSE: ETO) has agreed to buy Phase 4 Films from president and CEO Berry Meyerowitz, who will now become president of Entertainment One's U.S. film and distribution business. The deal's financial terms were not disclosed, however, sources have cited the purchase price as $27 million. Based in Toronto, Phase 4 Films is a full-service independent studio. Entertainment One, which is also based in Toronto, specializes in the acquisition, production and distribution of film and television content. The company has been a portfolio investment of British private equity firm Marwyn Invesment Management since 2007.
3 min read · 02 June 2014
Long Run Exploration Ltd (TSX: LRE), a portfolio company of Canadian private equity firm Sprott Resource Corp, has acquired oil and liquids-rich natural gas assets focused on the Cardium in the Deep Basin and Pine Creek areas of Alberta from Crew Energy Inc (TSX:CR). The deal, valued at about $225 million, was funded by Long Run with a bought deal equity financing, the disposition of selected assets and credit facilities. Based in Calgary, Long Run is an intermediate oil and natural gas company focused on light-oil development and exploration in Western Canada.
6 min read · 02 June 2014
Canadian trucking company TransForce Inc said it would buy truckload transport and logistics company Transport America Inc for US$310 million, including debt, from U.S. private equity firm Goldner Hawn Johnson & Morrison Inc, Reuters reported. Goldner Hawn acquired the Eagan, Minnesota-based Transport America in 2006. TransForce said the deal, which is expected to close by the end of this month, would be immediately accretive to earnings. The company estimates total annual revenues to be generated by the acquisition at around US$350 million.
2 min read · 02 June 2014
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co said on June 1 that it had decided to terminate a hedge fund that invested in stocks which the private equity firm had launched in 2011 after poaching a team of proprietary traders from investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
3 min read · 02 June 2014
1 min read · 02 June 2014
U.S.-based retailer chain 99 Cents Only Stores LLC, which is owned by Ares Management and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), has named Christopher A. Laurence as an interim chief financial officer, treasurer and secretary. Previously, Laurence worked at product development and sourcing company ThreeSixty Group Ltd, where he served as CEO for the past six years. Update: Ares and CPPIB acquired 99 Cents Only Stores for US$1.6 billion in 2012.
2 min read · 02 June 2014
Mezzanine firms, though seemingly under assault by ever more aggressive senior lenders, are finding ways to put their capital to work in 2014. And they’re doing so at relatively attractive risk-adjusted prices, with target IRRs in the high teens, according to a recent survey.
2 min read · 02 June 2014
