Apollo Global Management LLC, manager of the largest private equity fund since the financial crisis, said on May 8 its buyout funds appreciated much less than before and that it saw more opportunities to increase its credit investment assets.
3 min read · 08 May 2014
Brookfield Asset Management said on Wednesday cash flow slumped 29 percent in the first quarter because of a decline in realized gains from asset sales but the result beat estimates and the company raised its dividend by 7 percent, Reuters reported. Funds from operation (FFO), a measure of cash flow for real estate management companies, fell to $492 million, or 72 cents per share, from $689 million, or $1.03 per share, a year earlier, the Canadian property, power and infrastructure investor said.
2 min read · 08 May 2014
Legacy Oil + Gas Inc (TSX: LEG) has agreed to buy Highrock Energy Ltd, a Calgary-based company engaged in light oil-focused projects in Saskatchewan. Under the terms of the agreement, Legacy will issue approximately 18.9 million common shares to Highrock's shareholders and assume the company's net debt of about $33.8 million. Holders of more than 50% of Highrock's shares have agreed to vote in favour of the deal, which is expected to close in June. Highrock received an investment in 2012 from Canadian private equity firm PFM Capital, while Legacy in the same year obtained funding from CPPIB Credit Investments.
9 min read · 08 May 2014
Bellus Health Inc and private equity firm Auven Therapeutics have engaged a financial adviser to explore the sale of KIACTA, an orphan drug nearing completion of its Phase III trial as a treatment for AA amyloidosis. Auven acquired the worldwide rights to KIACTA from the Laval, Québec-based Bellus Health in 2010. Operating from the British Virgin Islands, Auven invests in the healthcare industry. The firm said it had received indications of strong interest from prospective buyers of KIACTA. Bellus Health is a drug development company focused on rare diseases.
6 min read · 08 May 2014
TriOil Resources Ltd, a Canadian energy company owned by PKN Orlen SA, has agreed to buy Calgary's Birchill Exploration LP, which operates oil and gas fields in the Ferrier-Strachan area of Alberta. The seller is Bregal Investments, the private equity investment arm of European holding company COFRA Holding AG. Financial terms were not disclosed. PKN Orlen said the Birchill acquisition is consistent with its upstream development strategy of diversifying the company's global assets. The Calgary-based TriOil was acquired by PKN Orlen, a Polish petroleum and petrochemical business, in November 2013.
2 min read · 08 May 2014
Sysomos Inc, a social media monitoring and analytics company and affiliate of Marketwired Inc, has appointed Tom Carlock as its new vice president of innovation and chief customer officer. Carlock, who previously worked for Dun & Bradstreet Corp (NYSE: DNB), has more than 20 years in data intelligence. Formerly venture-backed, Sysomos was bought by Toronto-based Marketwired, a newswire services provider, in 2010. The company is majority-owned by Canadian private equity firm OMERS Private Equity, the investment arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System.
3 min read · 07 May 2014
First American Payment Systems, which is backed by Lindsay Goldberg, has pulled its auction yet again, three sources said.
2 min read · 07 May 2014
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has partnered with real estate companies WAM Development Group and Walton Group of Companies on a joint venture to develop a 250-acre industrial site in northwest Edmonton, Alberta. Henday Industrial Park, which will house about four million square feet of distribution and logistics warehousing, is to be developed by WAM and Walton in two phases beginning this summer. CPPIB is initially committing around $200 million for phase one, which represents an 85% interest in the joint venture.
4 min read · 07 May 2014
Shearer's Foods Inc, a portfolio company of U.S. private equity firm Wind Point Partners and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, has agreed to acquire Lance Private Brands from Snyder's-Lance Inc (NASDAQ: LNCE). No financial terms were disclosed although some news outlets report the amount of the purchase to be US$430 million. Lance Private Brands is a maker of cookies, crackers and wafers. Update: Based in Massillon, Ohio, Shearer's is a contract manufacturer and private label supplier in the snack industry. It was bought by Wind Point and Ontario Teachers in 2012.
3 min read · 07 May 2014
Integrated Supply Network Inc (ISN), a portfolio company of U.S.-based Audax Private Equity, recently acquired a Canadian automotive tool and equipment distributor. That is according to a report from aftermarketNews. ISN is reported as having purchased Montréal's Distribution PDG Inc on Jan. 6. Financial details of the transaction were not published. Based in Lakeland, Florida, ISN is a wholesaler of tools, testing equipment and related supplies sold into the aftermarket automotive repair industry. Audax invested in the company in 2011.
1 min read · 07 May 2014
