Avison Young Inc, a portfolio company of Canadian private equity firm Tricor Pacific Capital, recently bought Commercial Texas LLC, an Austin, Texas-based commercial real estate services company. The financial details of the transaction were not published. The Toronto-based Avision has over the last five years grown from 11 to 57 offices in 46 markets, and from 300 real estate professionals to more than 1,500. The Commercial Texas acquisition comes on the heels of the company's creation of a European market presence through its purchase of Haywards LLP in April.
9 min read · 22 April 2014
Finavera Wind Energy Inc (TSX-V: FVR), a Vancouver-based company focused on developing renewable energy opportunities, has completed its previously announced sale of 184 megawatts of wind projects to Pattern Energy Group LP (NASDAQ: PEGI) (TSX: PEG). The gross cash consideration was $28 million. Pattern Energy, a wind and transmission platform based in San Francisco, has been a portfolio investment of U.S. private equity firm Riverstone Holdings since 2009. The company went public in 2013.
2 min read · 22 April 2014
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan has entered into a strategic partnership with GE Aviation, the jet engines and components division of General Electric Co (NYSE: GE). In connection with the undisclosed partnership, Teachers will support development of advanced technologies for the GE9X engine, which will power Boeing's new wide-body 777X aircraft. The event also marked Teachers' first innovative funding transaction with the Development Bank of Japan (DBJ).
2 min read · 22 April 2014
Canada's Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc said on Tuesday it has partnered with activist investor Bill Ackman in an unsolicited US$47 billion bid to buy Botox maker Allergan Inc in a move to eventually become one of the world's five biggest drug companies, reports Reuters. The offer, if successful, would bring together two mid-sized pharmaceutical companies with expertise in skin care and eye care products. Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management, Allergan's largest shareholder with a 9.7 percent stake, disclosed in a filing on Monday that it is supporting the bid.
2 min read · 22 April 2014
Michael Foods Group Inc is close to a deal to sell itself to Post Holdings Inc for $2.5 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter.
1 min read · 21 April 2014
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has completed a US$596 million secondary transaction involving the third partnership (2002) of U.S. private equity firm J.W. Childs Associates. As the lead investor, CPPIB invested US$477 million in the deal, which provides an option for existing limited partners in Fund III to obtain liquidity. As part of the transaction, CPPIB has also agreed to commit US$119 million to the firm's fourth partnership, which is targeted to raise US$450 million, and will invest in North American consumer products, specialty retail and healthcare services sectors.
2 min read · 21 April 2014
SMART Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: SMT) (TSX: SMA) has announced that founders David Martin and Nancy Knowlton have resigned from the company's board of directors. This resulted in all of the company's Class B shares being converted into single vote Class A subordinate voting shares. Following this change, U.K.-based private equity firm Apax Partners holds 31.1% of all Class A shares, Martin and Knowlton hold 23.5%, and Intel Corp holds 14.4%. The Calgary-based SMART Technologies is a developer of electronic whiteboards used for education and business applications. Apax took a minority position in the company in 2007. SMART Technologies went public in 2010.
4 min read · 21 April 2014
TreeHouse Foods Inc (NYSE: THS) has agreed to pay $170 million in cash to acquire Protenergy Natural Foods Corp, a Richmond, Ontario-based manufacturer of food and beverage products, such as private label broths, soups and gravies. The sellers in the transaction are Canadian private equity firm Whitecastle Investments, the firm's partnership Whitecap Venture Partners, and other investors. The acquisition, which is expected to close in the second quarter, will expand Treehouse's packaging capabilities, allow it to offer a full range of soup products, and leverage R&D and growth opportunities, the company said. Protenergy is also a portfolio company of Canadian alternative assets investor Kensington Capital Partners. Based in Toronto, Whitecastle is a family-owned investment vehicle.
6 min read · 21 April 2014
City Office REIT Inc, a real estate company backed by Canadian private equity firm Second City Capital Partners, recently priced its initial public offering of 5.8 million shares at $12.50 per share. Gross proceeds are expected to total $72.5 million. City Office REIT, which was formed to acquire, own and operate office properties located in metropolitan areas in the southern and western United States, began trading last week on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CIO.” As reported last December by peHUB Canada, the Vancouver-based Second City plans to launch a new partnership in 2014.
4 min read · 21 April 2014
The final sale of Ainsworth Lumber Co Ltd (TSX: ANS) to U.S. forest products company Louisiana-Pacific Corp (NYSE: LPX) has been extended to June 2, for regulatory reasons. The acquisition deal, which is valued at US$1.1 billion, was announced in late 2013. Ainsworth, a Vancouver-based manufacturer of home-building products, is currently owned by the private equity division of Brookfield Asset Management, which invested in the company's restructuring in 2008. The Ainsworth transaction was discussed in a report by peHUB Canada in February.
4 min read · 21 April 2014
