Newly listed Stingray Digital Group plans to spend some $50 million this year to acquire broader distribution for its streaming music channels, its CEO told Reuters. Shares in Montréal-based Stingray jumped 19 percent on their debut, a shot in the arm for Canada's bubbling IPO market, as the company eyed acquisitions to expand across the Americas, eastern Europe and Asia.
2 min read · 04 June 2015
An affiliate of Constellation Software Inc has purchased Megabus Pty Ltd, a Melbourne, Australia-based enterprise software solutions provider to retail and wholesale distribution industries. The financial details of the transaction were not released. Constellation, a Toronto-based provider of software solutions, said Megabus will operate as an independent division of the company's Friedman's Markinson Technologies group. Publicly listed in 2006, Constellation remains a portfolio investment of OMERS Private Equity.
2 min read · 04 June 2015
Ivanhoé Cambridge, the real estate investment arm of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, has agreed to sell two Paris office properties to Gecina SA, a French property business, for 1.24 billion euros. Ivanhoé also closed an agreement to grow its participation in Gecina through an existing partnership with real estate funds managed by Blackstone Group. Last year, Blackstone and Ivanhoé increased their investment in the company by acquiring the stake formerly held by Spain's Metrovacesa SA.
3 min read · 04 June 2015
Troubled British retailer Tesco has hired HSBC to explore a sale of its South Korean operations, valued at about $6 billion, people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.
3 min read · 04 June 2015
Apollo is struggling to stick to its mission, says Reuters Breakingviews columnist Jeffrey Goldfarb.
2 min read · 03 June 2015
GI Partners is buying the real estate software company MRI Software LLC for an undisclosed sum from the technology focused private equity firm Vista Equity Partners, the firms said on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
1 min read · 03 June 2015
Standard Chartered board member V. Shankar is leaving the London-based bank to launch a private $750 million-$1 billion private equity fund focused on Africa, the Middle East, South Asia and Southeast Asia, he said on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
1 min read · 03 June 2015
The horticulture and agriculture group of Premier Tech Ltd has purchased facilities in Brighton, Ontario from long-standing partner Agrium Advanced Technologies for an undisclosed amount. The company said the acquisition is its 21st since 2008, and its sixth in Canada. Based in Rivière-du-Loup, Québec, Premier Tech specializes in horticulture and agriculture production, manufacturing of recycling equipment, and the provision of wastewater treatment systems and services. It has been backed in its strategic initiatives, including acquisitions, by the Fonds de solidarité (FTQ).
2 min read · 03 June 2015
COM DEV International Ltd (TSX: CDV) has completed its previously announced acquisition of Pacific Wave Systems Inc, a Garden Grove, California-based manufacturer of waveguides for the global satellite industry, for US$20.1 million. The seller in the transaction was Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, a U.S. private equity firm that acquired Pacific Wave in April 2008. COM DEV, a Canadian provider of space hardware and services, said the deal will strengthen its portfolio with a complementary space product that is expected to benefit from market trends, including the growth in high-throughput satellites.
3 min read · 03 June 2015
Stingray Digital Group Inc, a Montréal-based multi-platform music and in-store media solutions provider, has completed its previously announced initial public offering. The company raised total gross proceeds of $140 million from the offering, giving it a non-diluted market capitalization of about $296 million. It may raise a further $21 million from an over-allotment option. Of the initial amount raised, Novacap and Telesystem, which have invested in Stingray since 2007, took $57 million. A secondary private placement of $18.35 million by selling shareholders closed concurrently. Stingray's shares will now begin trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols “RAY.A” and “RAY.B”.
4 min read · 03 June 2015
