Private Equity
Chorus.ai, a U.S.-Israeli provider of analytics for sales teams, has raised US$33 million in a Series B funding round led by Canadian growth equity firm Georgian Partners, Reuters reported. Returning investors Redpoint Ventures and Emergence Capital also participated in the round, bringing the total raised to date to US$55 million. Georgian Managing Partner Simon Chong will join the board. The funds raised will be used to accelerate customer acquisition and continue product innovation. Chorus.ai CEO Roy Raanani said his company’s technology provides visibility into video conferencing platforms and phone calls to understand how top performers sell and coach the rest of the team.
1 min read · 13 December 2018
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) plans to continue deploying capital in China, despite political tensions between the two nations, CEO Mark Machin told Reuters. Following the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd’s CFO on December 1, China warned Canada it would face consequences if it did not immediately release her. “If we cut aside all of the rhetoric, I think China will take a mature, cool-headed attitude toward pragmatic negotiations, so we won’t get too much wild action,” Machin said. CPPIB has 8 percent of its funds invested in China and has previously indicated it plans to increase that significantly in the next few years.
3 min read · 12 December 2018
SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) is set to raise 2.65 trillion yen ($23.5 billion) in Japan’s biggest-ever IPO - a share sale widely regarded as finalizing the group’s transition from domestic telco to a monolithic global tech investor, Reuters reported.
3 min read · 10 December 2018
Brazil’s state-controlled oil company Petróleo Brasileiro (Petrobras) could present a new sale and purchase agreement before the end of December for the sale of the Transportadora Associada de Gás (TAG) pipeline, after a Brazilian Supreme Court injunction in July stalled the sale, Reuters reported. The sale of TAG, which operates natural gas pipelines in Brazil, could fetch Petrobras as much as US$7 billion. A consortium comprising Engie and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec were in talks with Petrobras to buy TAG before the injunction. A group comprising EIG Global Energy Partners and Mubadala, and a second team made up of Macquarie, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and GIC, previously expressed an interest.
3 min read · 07 December 2018
Marlboro cigarette maker Altria Group Inc said on Friday it will invest $1.8 billion in the Canadian cannabis producer Cronos Group Inc, taking a 45 percent stake in the company as it enters a rapidly growing legal marijuana industry, Reuters reported.
1 min read · 07 December 2018
Ride-hailing company Lyft Inc beat bigger rival Uber Technologies Inc in filing for an initial public offering that will test investor appetite for high-profile but loss-making technology businesses, Reuters reported. The San Francisco-based company, which was last valued at about US$15 billion, did not specify the number of shares it was selling or the price range for the offering. The IPO is slated for the first half of 2019. Lyft's Canadian investors include Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and Public Sector Pension Investment Board. In March, Canadian automotive parts supplier Magna International Inc also agreed to invest to US$200 million in Lyft.
2 min read · 06 December 2018
Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management will be the largest single commercial property owner in New York City after its US$11.4 billion buy of Forest City Realty Trust Inc closes in coming days, Reuters reported, citing a Brookfield official. Its New York assets will top 36 million square feet after the Forest City deal closes, surpassing Vornado Realty Trust, according to data from CoStar Group Inc and Brookfield. Brookfield, which historically has been known for office holdings, now has a sizable slice in the retail and apartment sectors, a growing presence in hotels, logistical and warehouse assets, student housing and manufacturing housing.
2 min read · 05 December 2018
Glass Lewis & Co has recommended voting against the reappointment of Detour Gold Corp Chairman Alex Morrison and one more member, while adding an additional nominee from Paulson & Co, instead of a board overhaul pushed by the U.S. activist investment firm, Reuters reported. “We ultimately see validity in Paulson’s central thesis that, for substantive change to take hold at the company, certain of the core and long-term directors who have presided over value destruction and overseen technical failures of prior mine plans need to be replaced,” Glass Lewis said. Paulson has about 6 percent stake in Detour. The company is under pressure from two other investors to overhaul its board and consider a sale.
2 min read · 05 December 2018
Thomson Reuters Corp said it will cut its workforce by 12 percent in the next two years, axing 3,200 jobs, as part of a plan to streamline the business and reduce cost, Reuters reported. The company, which is focusing on its legal and tax businesses following the sale of a 55-percent stake in its Financial & Risk (F&R) unit to U.S. private equity firm Blackstone Group LP, declined to say where the job cuts were being made. The company aims to grow annual sales by 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent by 2020, excluding the impact of any acquisitions. It has set aside US$2 billion of the US$17 billion proceeds from the Blackstone deal to make purchases to help grow its legal and tax businesses.
2 min read · 04 December 2018
Institutional Shareholder Services Inc (ISS) has advised shareholders to vote for Detour Gold Corp’s refreshed board of directors at an upcoming shareholders’ meeting, stopping short of more aggressive changes demanded by U.S. activist investor Paulson & Co, Reuters reported. Detour’s management has been resisting Paulson’s call for an overall of the board and immediate dismissal of interim CEO Michael Kenyon. Paulson, which has a stake of about 6 percent in the miner, said it did not believe ISS had gone far enough in its recommendation. Detour is under pressure from two other investors, Coast Capital Management LP and Livermore Partners, to overhaul its board and consider a sale.
1 min read · 03 December 2018
