Private Equity
Throughout 2016 and 2017, a rail terminal built to accept crude oil for the largest East Coast refinery often sat idle, with few trains showing up to unload. Although little oil flowed, plenty of money did.
6 min read · 20 February 2018
The financing backing U.S. private equity firm Blackstone Group’s acquisition of a majority stake in Thomson Reuters’ Financial and Risk (F&R) unit totals more than US$15 billion, banking sources told Reuters. The deal, which consists of a US$14 billion loan and bond financing, also includes a US$1 billion payment-in-kind (PIK) note at the holding company level. The US$14 billion financing is currently being marketed to other banks by the three lead banks Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and JP Morgan. The US$1 billion PIK note has already been placed. “I think it’s a great business, it’s a good solid subscription model with sticky customers and high cash conversion, which is what you need for good LBOs,” a syndicate head said. Blackstone will acquire a 55 percent stake in the F&R business in a deal valued at US$20 billion, with Thomson Reuters, controlled by Canada's Thomson family, retaining a 45 percent holding.
3 min read · 16 February 2018
Thomson Reuters Corp Chairman David Thomson urged the company’s board of directors to seek better terms for its US$17 billion sale of a large chunk of its business to U.S. private equity firm Blackstone Group LP, the Wall Street Journal reported this week, citing people close to the deal. Blackstone last month agreed to buy a majority stake in Thomson Reuters’ Financial & Risk division in a US$20 million deal. Executives with Woodbridge Co Ltd, a private Toronto firm that holds the Thomson family’s majority stake in Thomson Reuters, disagreed with David Thomson and supported the deal, the newspaper said. The Thomson family owns 64 percent of Thomson Reuters through Woodbridge. Thomson eventually voted in favour of the deal, but only after telling other directors he was concerned they had not sought a higher price or considered other potential buyers for the business, according to the newspaper.
2 min read · 15 February 2018
Canadian pension fund OMERS said this week it had raised its stake in Thames Water, Britain's largest water company, to around 32 percent, shrugging off worries about renationalisation, Reuters reported. The infrastructure investment manager of OMERS (Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System), said it had bought another four percent of Kemble Water Holdings Ltd, the ultimate holding company of Thames Water. The financial details of the deal, which is expected to close later this year, were not disclosed. OMERS initially agreed to invest in Thames Water in March 2017, alongside the infrastructure investing arm of Kuwait Investment Authority. The minority stake was bought from Macquarie.
2 min read · 15 February 2018
More banks are poised to join a US$14 billion financing backing U.S. private equity firm Blackstone Group’s acquisition of a majority stake in the Financial and Risk business of Thomson Reuters Corp, banking sources told Reuters. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and JP Morgan are leading the financing and are talking to other banks including Barclays, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and RBC about joining the deal shortly. “Every man and his dog is pitching to get in on the action,” a loan syndicate head said. The large deal is attracting interest from banks vying for roles on the lucrative underwritten leveraged loan and high yield bond financing. Blackstone will acquire a 55 percent stake in the F&R business in a deal valued at US$20 billion, with Thomson Reuters, controlled by Canada’s Thomson family, retaining a 45 percent holding.
3 min read · 14 February 2018
At least two Canadian forestry companies are reviewing offers by cryptocurrency miners who want to lease excess mill space in Québec, a province where electricity prices are among the lowest in North America, Reuters reported. Resolute Forest Products and Fortress Global Enterprises said they have received interest from Canadian and foreign cryptominers, although both cautioned their talks are preliminary. A surge in demand for space to build data centres that “mine” digital currencies offers potential new revenue streams for forestry businesses looking to find uses for space in mills no longer used for production due to declining demand for certain traditional products. The threat of a crackdown in countries like China has driven miners to Canada, with the country’s largest electric utility Hydro Québec seeing its cryptocurrency sales pipeline more than triple in a month to over 100 projects.
3 min read · 12 February 2018
Remington Outdoor Company Inc, one of the largest U.S. makers of firearms, said on Monday it had reached a deal with its creditors to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to slash its $950 million debtload.
2 min read · 12 February 2018
U.S. business software developer Salesforce.com Inc will pump US$2 billion ($2.5 billion) into its Canadian business over the next five years, it said this week, the latest major U.S. technology investment across the border since early 2017, Reuters reported. Toronto is a hub for artificial intelligence research and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is visiting California this week in part to speak with U.S. technology chief executives. Canadian leaders have promoted their country’s immigration policies as an alternative to the U.S. administration’s ban on travellers from some Muslim countries and restrictions on work permits for some foreigners. “You want the best minds wherever they are,” said Mike McDerment, chief executive of FreshBooks, a Toronto company that develops accounting software.
2 min read · 09 February 2018
China’s Ant Financial Services Group is planning to raise up to $5 billion in fresh equity that could value the online payments giant at more than $100 billion, sources told Reuters.
3 min read · 09 February 2018
Québec's public pension fund this week said the expected cost of building one of the world’s biggest light rail systems in Montréal had risen for a second time and was now $800 million above its initial forecast, Reuters reported. Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec also said a consortium led by SNC Lavalin Group Inc had won a contract worth around $5 billion to provide engineering, procurement and construction on the project. A consortium led by Alstom and including SNC Lavalin will provide rolling stock and systems through a contract worth more than $1 billion. The Caisse is both financing and overseeing the construction of the 67-kilometre public transit system. It will own and operate the system once it has been built.
2 min read · 08 February 2018
