Manac Inc, the largest manufacturer of truck trailers in Canada, has begun a strategic review to explore a potential sale or merger, Reuters reported. Two of Québec's largest fund managers, the Fonds de Solidarité FTQ and the Caisse de depot et Placement du Quebec, together own about 30 percent of Manac's shares. The company is also a current portfolio investment of U.S. private equity firm American Industrial Partners.
1 min read · 30 March 2015
Canadian mid-market private equity firm Birch Hill Equity Partners has acquired additional shares in Spectral Medical Inc (TSX: EDT), a developer of treatments for endotoxemic septic shock. The purchase increases the second tranche of a previously announced company financing to $6.1 million. Birch Hill and another investor, Japanese manufacturer Toray Industries Inc, are helping finance the commercialization of Spectral Medical's lead product candidate. Founded in 1991, the company has its headquarters in Toronto.
4 min read · 30 March 2015
Alloycorp Mining Inc (TSX-V: AVT) has arranged for US$435 million in financing to develop its Avanti Kitsault Project, a molybdenum mine located north of Prince Rupert, British Columbia that is expected to reach production in 2017. Included in the financing package is a conditional equity commitment of US$140 million from U.S. private equity firm Resource Capital Funds (RCF), part of which will be used to repay an outstanding bridge loan facility. The company has also received a conditional equity commitment of about US$70 million from several RCF limited partners. Formerly known as Avanti Mining Inc, Alloycorp has its headquarters in Vancouver.
8 min read · 30 March 2015
KKR’s decision to finance its acquisition of British rail ticket website thetrainline.com with a 275 million pound ($409.48 million) loan provided by a club of 12 lenders shows the changes afoot in European middle-market lending as multiplying loan providers reduces the traditional need to syndicate loans widely, Thomson Reuters Loan Pricing Corp reported.
3 min read · 28 March 2015
The Fonds de solidarité FTQ has agreed to commit $100 million to the $300 million logistics component of the Québec government's marine strategy. The strategy aims to position Québec as a hub of trans-Atlantic shipping traffic. In connection with the 2015 Québec Budget, the Fonds also announced that it will play a significant role in the extension of the SIDEX mining fund mandate until 2025; the expansion of the Fonds Valorisation Bois mandate to include pulp and paper innovation; and an increase in the investment threshold of the Fonds régionaux de solidarité FTQ from $2 million to $3 million. Based in Montréal, the Fonds manages net assets of $10.5 billion.
3 min read · 27 March 2015
U.S. private equity firm Carlyle Group has agreed to buy Sterling Resources' Romanian gas fields, days after it raised US$2.5 billion to snap up energy assets around the world, Reuters reported. Sterling, a Calgary-based oil and gas company, will receive US$42.5 million from Carlyle's international energy fund for its entire Romanian operations as it struggles to stay afloat following the recent drop in oil prices.
2 min read · 26 March 2015
Holders of shares of Wheels Group Inc (TSXV: WGI) have approved the company's previously announced acquisition by Radiant Logistics Inc (NYSE MKT: RLGT). The cash and stock deal, which is valued at $95 million, will be financed partly by subordinated debt provided by Alcentra Capital Corp and Triangle Capital Corp, and a senior loan provided by an affiliate of Integrated Asset Management Corp. Wheels Group is a third party logistics provider based in Mississauga, Ontario.
3 min read · 26 March 2015
Toronto-based Quickplay Media Inc has secured $57 million in new funding. The investor was U.S. private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners, the company's owner since 2012, in partnership with specialty finance firms Orix Ventures and Difference Capital Financial. Quickplay, a managed video platform that powers premium video over all networks and devices, said the fresh injection of capital will allow it to make new investments that further accelerate growth. Earlier this month, the company acquired Roundbox Inc, a U.S. provider of cloud-enabled solutions and software that optimize video and data-intensive apps. Since 2003, Quickplay has raised more than $150 million from private equity and venture capital firms.
4 min read · 26 March 2015
Canadian mineral exploration and development company Ivanhoe Mines Ltd (TSX: IVN) has named Livia Mahler to its board of directors. The appointment is effective immediately. Mahler is president and CEO of Vancouver's Computational Geosciences Inc and a co-founder of Greenstone Venture Partners, a Canadian venture capital firm. Based in Vancouver, Ivanhoe Mines is currently focused on three principal mine-development projects in Africa.
2 min read · 26 March 2015
The National Bank of Canada has bought a stake in NSIA Participations, an African financial services group headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. With the transaction, National Bank and Amethis Africa Finance have assumed the equity stake in NSIA held by a fund affiliated with African private equity firm ECP. National Bank will have a 20.9 percent interest in the company, while that of Amethis Finance will be 5.4 percent. The deal, the value of which was not disclosed, is expected to close in the third quarter of this year.
7 min read · 25 March 2015
