Mexican bread maker Grupo Bimbo has agreed to buy Canada Bread Co Ltd (TSX: CBY) from majority owner Maple Leaf Foods Inc for $1.83 billion. The proposed transaction, which has been approved by the boards of directors of Canada Bread and Grupo Bimbo, will require the approval of over two-thirds of the votes cast by shareholders of Canada Bread at a special meeting expected to take place in Apr. 2014. Maple Leaf has agreed to vote its 90% interest in favour of the acquisition. As reported by Reuters in January, other bidders for Canada Bread had included U.S. private equity firms Bain Capital and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. Toronto-based food processor Maple Leaf (TSX: MFI) is a portfolio investment of Canadian private investment firm West Face Capital.
6 min read · 13 February 2014
Capital régional et coopératif Desjardins (CRCD), a retail fund managed by Canadian private equity firm Desjardins Capital de risque, reported a share price increase based on 2013 performance to $11.66. This is a record high since CRCD’s inception in 2001, and the fifth consecutive year in which share prices have grown. The fund also reported over $167 million was disbursed to 119 businesses from CRCD’s entrepreneurial ecosystem last year. Today, the Montréal-based CRCD has assets under management totaling $1.47 billion, and over 100,000 shareholders.
3 min read · 13 February 2014
Platinum Equity appears to be getting some of its equity back just weeks after buying BlueLine Rental in a $1.1 billion deal, according to sister website peHUB.
2 min read · 11 February 2014
Ryan Heckman, one of the senior leaders of KRG Capital spin-out Excellere Partners, left the Denver-based firm recently to explore other opportunities, according to David Kessenich, managing partner at Excellere, according to sister website peHUB.
2 min read · 11 February 2014
Directors of Spain’s largest cable operator Ono met to weigh up whether they should accept a takeover offer from Britain’s Vodafone or push ahead with their original plan to list the company on the stock market, sister news service Reuters reported.
3 min read · 11 February 2014
General Growth Properties Inc (NYSE: GGP) has repurchased close to 28 million common shares held by U.S. hedge fund manager Pershing Square Capital Management for a total consideration of approximately US$556 million. As a result, Pershing Square no longer has an investment stake in the company. In 2010, Pershing Square partnered with Brookfield Asset Management and Fairholme Capital Management in the recapitalization of the bankrupt business for US$6.5 billion. Based in Chicago, Illinois, General Growth is an owner, developer, and operator of retail properties in regional shopping malls in the United States. It remains a portfolio company of Brookfield.
3 min read · 11 February 2014
Investors in Novik Inc (TSXV: NVK) have approved the company's acquisition for approximately $45 million by U.S. private equity firm Clearview Capital. The previously announced transaction was approved by close to 78 percent of all Novik shareholders present or represented by proxy at a meeting held this week. The company expects that the deal's closing will occur on February 14, 2014. The Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, Québec-based Novik is a manufacturer of polymer exterior siding, roofing coverings and accessories.
4 min read · 11 February 2014
La Quinta Holdings Inc, a hotel chain backed by Blackstone Group LP, filed with U.S. regulators to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering of its common stock, sister news service Reuters reported.
1 min read · 11 February 2014
Private equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC said it had invested $32 million in Specialists On Call Inc (SOC), a provider of specialty physician services via video conferencing that seeks to address the shortage of on-call coverage, sister news service Reuters reported.
1 min read · 11 February 2014
Contemporary women’s retailer Bebe Stores Inc is exploring a potential sale and is reaching out to private equity firms, according to people familiar with the matter, sister news service Reuters reported.
1 min read · 11 February 2014
