Swiss food group Aryzta AG has completed its previously announced acquisition of Pineridge Bakery Inc, an Ancaster, Ontario-based bakery, manufacturer and marketer of frozen and fresh specialty baked goods. The transaction, valued at US$340 million, provided exits to U.S. private equity firm Swander Pace Capital and Canadian firm Roynat Equity Partners. Pineridge was bought by Swander Pace in 2007.
1 min read · 04 April 2014
Canadian private equity firm Onex Corp and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) have agreed to sell industrial conglomerate Gates Corp to Blackstone Group for US$5.4 billion. The sale is expected to close later this year. Gates is a division of U.K.-based Tomkins, taken private by Onex and CPPIB in 2010 for US$5 billion. Onex said that including Gates, the two investors will have divested eight divisions of Tomkins, for proceeds of US$7.9 billion. Upon completion of the Gates sale, Onex and CPPIB will also have received aggregate proceeds of around US$4.7 billion, including prior distributions of US$1.2 billion, resulting in a multiple of capital invested of about 2.2 times and a return of about 26% per annum.
4 min read · 04 April 2014
Canadian secondaries advisory and intermediary firm Setter Capital has introduced enhancements to Secondary Link, its search engine and blog for sharing global market information. Launched in 2013, SecondaryLink allows more than 1,700 institutional investors, fund managers and industry participants to track and connect on activity in the secondary market. Based in Toronto, Setter Capital was profiled by peHUB Canada in February.
2 min read · 03 April 2014
Thomson Reuters has released its Q1 2014 Canadian Capital Markets Review, a set of league tables ranking underwriting activity by Canadian banks across equity and debt. RBC placed first across several metrics, including overall debt issuance, corporate debt, and equity issuance. Following RBC with $1.22 billion, Scotia and BMO placed second and third in equity standings with $1.15 and $1.07 billion, respectively. In bonds, RBC's $8.98 billion of debt issuance was closely followed by TD with $8.69. Overall, $38.9 billion of debt from 98 deals was raised in the first quarter, up slightly from the year before. A total of $8.3 billion of equity was raised from January to March by 116 companies, up 36% from Q1 2013.
3 min read · 03 April 2014
Bank of Nova Scotia led investment banks in advising on mergers and acquisitions in Canada and finished second in equity issues in a first quarter that brought a rebound in overall activity in both categories after a weaker 2013, reports Reuters. Driven by brisker activity in the energy and mining sectors, the total value of M&A deals in the quarter rose by 20 percent to US$35.7 billion from the first quarter of 2013, according to data released by Thomson Reuters. Equity advisory totals rose 36 percent to US$7.52 billion.
3 min read · 03 April 2014
CTE Industries Ltd, an Edmonton, Alberta-based manufacturer and supplier of oilfield cementation equipment, has been bought by Antelope Oil Tool & Manufacturing Co LLC. The financial details of the transaction were not published. With headquarters in Mineral Wells, Texas, Antelope is a manufacturer of oilfield casing and cementing products. The company said the acquisition of CTE will extend its geographic presence into Canada and expand its customer base. Antelope is a portfolio investment of energy-focused U.S. private equity firm Intervale Capital. Intervale acquired the business in June 2013.
3 min read · 03 April 2014
Canada Fluorspar Inc (TSX Venture: CFI) (OTC: CNDFF) has agreed to be bought by U.S. private equity firm Golden Gate Capital at a price of $0.35 per share, payable in cash. One source has valued the deal at $38.8 million. Canada Fluorspar also said that Golden Gate will provide it with $2 million in convertible financing in advance for on-going operations. The company's board of directors have recommended the acquisition to shareholders, who will consider it at a special meeting in May. Based in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada Fluorspar develops industrial mineral projects with a current focus on a large fluorspar project in the Atlantic region.
7 min read · 03 April 2014
French buyout firm Ardian, recently spun off from insurer AXA SA, said it has raised 500 million euros ($688 million) for small-cap investments.
1 min read · 03 April 2014
Insight Equity has so far collected $399 million for its third fund, according to an SEC filing.
2 min read · 02 April 2014
Osisko Mining Corp (TSX: OSK) has agreed to the purchase of 50% interest of its mining and exploration assets by Yamana Gold Inc (TSX:YRI; NYSE:AUY) for around $930 million. The deal reflects a $441.5 million cash payment by the Toronto-based Yamana and 95.7 million in shares. Additionally, Osisko has entered into arrangements totaling $550 million with CPPIB Credit Investments and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec for the sale of a gold stream on its Canadian Malartic Mine and an increase in its credit facility. Combined investments will generate $1 billion in cash to be distributed to Osisko shareholders, the Montréal-based company said. Osisko investors will vote on the Yamana deal no later than May 20, 2014. In January, the Vancouver-based Goldcorp Inc (TSE: G) made a hostile $2.6 billion bid to acquire Osisko.
10 min read · 02 April 2014
