Buyout firm Hellman & Friedman is acquiring education company Renaissance Learning for $1.1 billion in cash from fellow private equity firm Permira Advisers, Renaissance said.
1 min read · 13 March 2014
Galen Partners, which hasn’t raised a fund since 2007, expects to be out in the market later this year for its sixth pool, sources told sister website peHUB.
3 min read · 12 March 2014
Can-Sure Underwriting Ltd, a Vancouver-based provider of solutions for commercial property and liability risks to brokers across Western Canada, has been bought for an undisclosed price by Hub International Ltd. The deal, which will retain Can-Sure's brand, was facilitated through Hub subsidiary Beacon Underwriting Ltd. A Chicago-based insurance broker with significant operations in Canada, Hub was acquired in October 2013 by U.S. private equity firm Hellman & Friedman for US$4.4 billion from its previous private equity owners. Vancouver corporate finance advisory firm Capital West Partners advised Can-Sure on the transaction.
2 min read · 12 March 2014
Amish Mehta, a managing director and partner at Vector Capital who has been with the firm since 2002, has stepped back into the role of senior adviser, Alex Slusky, managing director and chief investment officer at Vector, confirmed to sister website peHUB.
2 min read · 12 March 2014
Japanese private equity firm Unison Capital is raising 60 billion yen ($581 million) for its fourth fund, sister news service Reuters reported, with demand for capital from buyout firms expected to grow as companies look to expand their businesses.
1 min read · 12 March 2014
The Blackstone Group, the world’s biggest alternative asset manager, said on March 11 that it agreed to buy most of cybersecurity firm Accuvant Inc from investment firm Sverica International.
1 min read · 12 March 2014
Trading firm Virtu Financial Inc, which posted only one day of trading losses over the five years ended 2013, plans to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering, sister news service Reuters reported, citing a company regulatory filing on March 10.
2 min read · 12 March 2014
U.S. private equity firm Pelican Energy Partners has appointed Lou Doiron as the new CEO of Rapid Rod Service Ltd, a provider of artificial lift maintenance services based in Okotoks, Alberta. Pelican, which specializes in deal-making in the oilfield services sector, made a controlling investment in Rapid Rod in June 2013. It was also announced that Doiron has been named a vice president of Pelican to give the Houston, Texas-based firm a full-time presence in Canada, as it is actively seeking additional investment opportunities in that market.
2 min read · 11 March 2014
A Delaware judge said Royal Bank of Canada should be held liable to former shareholders of Rural/Metro Corp because it failed to disclose conflicts of interest that tainted the US$438 million buyout of the ambulance operator, Reuters reported. Bankers at RBC Capital Markets were so eager to collect higher fees that they convinced Rural/Metro directors to sell the company in June 2011 to private equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC at an unreasonably low US$17.25 per share, wrote Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Chancery Court. Former Rural/Metro Corp shareholders are seeking about US$172 million from Toronto-based RBC, according to published reports.
3 min read · 11 March 2014
Canadian pension fund manager the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has made an $8 million private equity investment in BFL Canada, an independent commercial insurance broker. Proceeds of the funding will assist the Montréal-based company to continue its growth, particularly through acquisitions, the Caisse de dépôt said. Founded in 1987 by president and CEO Barry Lorenzetti, the employee-owned BFL provides risk management, insurance brokerage and employee benefits services.
3 min read · 11 March 2014
