Emerald Expositions LLC, the largest operator of business-to-business trade shows in the United States, is exploring a sale that could value the company at close to US$2 billion, including debt, sources told Reuters. Canadian private equity firm Onex Corp, which acquired Emerald for US$950 million in 2013, has hired Bank of America Corp to run an auction for Emerald, the sources said. Onex may pursue an initial public offering of Emerald if it is not satisfied with the acquisition offers it receives.
2 min read · 26 January 2017
State-owned German lender HSH Nordbank is close to concluding the sale of parts of its 3.2 billion euro ($3.4 billion) loan portfolio and Australia's Macquarie Group is expected to be among the buyers, sources told Reuters.
2 min read · 26 January 2017
Some of Canada's largest corporations and top executives launched two separate initiatives this week, investing millions of dollars into startup programs they hope will help stem a brain drain in fields like artificial intelligence and financial technology, Reuters reported. NextAI, which was unveiled on Wednesday, and Diagram, announced on Tuesday, both aim to halt the loss of the country's best technology talent by helping to launch new Canadian-based companies through seed funding and mentorship. "A lot of people are looking to come back, but it's hard to find the right backing and opportunity in Canada," said Diagram CEO and Founder, François Lafortune. "Canada must get this right.
2 min read · 26 January 2017
Performance Sports Group Ltd said it would seek approval from a U.S. bankruptcy court for the sale of its assets to Power Corp's Sagard Capital Partners LP and Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd, after it failed to attract other bids, Reuters reported. Sagard, Performance's biggest shareholder, and Fairfax had agreed in October to act as "stalking horse" bidders to buy most of the Bauer ice hockey gear maker's assets and its North American units for US$575 million. The former chairman of Performance was in talks with U.S. and Canadian private equity firms about submitting a bid for the company.
2 min read · 26 January 2017
Harvard University plans to outsource most of its investment management activities and cut its staff by roughly half, in a dramatic overhaul in how the Ivy League school's $35.7 billion endowment is managed, Reuters reported.
2 min read · 26 January 2017
Australia's AMP Ltd on Wednesday said it has closed its fledgling venture capital arm as the life insurer focuses on improving overall performance after flagging a nearly $1 billion earnings hit.
1 min read · 25 January 2017
Private equity firm Colony Capital has exited the capital of Carrefour (CARR.PA), some ten years after first investing in Europe's largest retailer, Reuters reported.
1 min read · 25 January 2017
Financial technology startup Overbond Ltd is launching a service that will allow companies to issue bonds digitally, Reuters reported. The new service, called OverbondX, will allow clients to execute deals, either private placement or public offerings, based on the information found on its platform. Toronto-based Overbond, founded in 2015, raised $7.5 million in seed financing last year, one of the largest such rounds in Canadian startup history.
2 min read · 25 January 2017
Judges in Delaware and Canada have approved a plan to pay more than US$7 billion to creditors of Nortel Networks Ltd, ending years of litigation over the former telecommunications company that filed for bankruptcy in 2009, Reuters reported. Ottawa-based Nortel was once among the biggest makers of telecom equipment in the world, with a market capitalization of US$250 billion at the height of the 1990s technology bubble. Some of the biggest bondholders include George Soros' investment vehicle Quantum Partners LP and Elliott Management Corp.
3 min read · 25 January 2017
Some investors started trying to shrink their exposure Monday to the single-family rental bond market in advance of the Blackstone Group's planed IPO of its home rental company, Reuters reported.
3 min read · 25 January 2017
