Private Equity
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec Chief Executive Michael Sabia said he believes that if U.S. President Donald Trump abandons the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, the United States would then negotiate a new deal with Canada, Reuters reported. Sabia was speaking at a Thomson Reuters Breakingviews event in Toronto discussing predictions for 2018 alongside Brookfield Asset Management Chief Executive Bruce Flatt. Canada is increasingly convinced that Trump will soon announce the United States intends to pull out of NAFTA, Reuters reported earlier this week, sending the Canadian and Mexican currencies lower and hurting stocks. Sabia added that other factors, such as entrepreneurial activity, could help mitigate the impact of the NAFTA talks failing.
2 min read · 11 January 2018
The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance is pooling $200 million in a new mobility tech fund, three sources said, in the latest move by major carmakers to adapt to rapid industry change by investing in startups through their own venture capital arms.
2 min read · 05 January 2018
Initial public offerings by Canadian companies are expected to increase in 2018, driven by activity in industrials, alternative energy and base metals sectors, banking advisers told Reuters. Companies raised $4.6 billion (US$3.7 billion) through IPOs in 2017, marking a surge in activity following a lull the previous year, according to numbers from Thomson Reuters that were released on Thursday. There were 22 IPOs, the highest for Canada since 2013. With asset valuations at elevated levels, private equity firms are looking to monetize their investments, often choosing between an IPO and a sale. PE Hub Canada in December estimated that a dozen Canadian private equity- and venture-backed IPOs raised $2.3 billion last year.
2 min read · 04 January 2018
An affiliate of Canadian alternative investment firm Brookfield Asset Management said this week it would acquire Westinghouse Electric Co LLC, the bankrupt nuclear services company owned by Toshiba Corp, for US$4.6 billion ($5.7 billion), Reuters reported. Brookfield Business Partners LP and institutional partners will buy the Pittsburgh-based business using US$1 billion of equity and US$3 billion of long-term debt financing, according to a statement. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018. Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy last March after two nuclear power plants it had designed and was constructing in the U.S. Southeast had gone billions of dollars over their fixed-cost contracts. Brookfield Business Partners, formed in 2016, is the listed affiliate of Brookfield's private equity group.
3 min read · 04 January 2018
Rising equity markets and clarity on U.S. tax reform could set the stage for an acceleration in Canadian mergers and acquisitions this year after a slowdown in 2017, investment bankers told Reuters. Canadian M&A activity slipped 6 percent in 2017 to US$239.7 billion, from US$255.1 billion in the previous year, data from Thomson Reuters showed on Thursday. While uncertainty around the tax regime weighed on deal activity in 2017, bankers expect the recently passed changes to the U.S. tax system to boost the allure of U.S. companies to Canadian firms and funds looking to make acquisitions. With Canadian and U.S. stocks at record highs, bankers also see buoyant equity markets supporting deals. Pension funds are expected to fuel deal activity as they look to invest massive capital pools.
3 min read · 04 January 2018
The student housing joint venture of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC and property owner Scion Group LLC has bought 24 U.S. student housing properties for US$1.1 billion, Reuters reported. CPPIB, Canada’s biggest public pension fund, formed the joint venture, Scion Student Communities LP, with GIC and Scion in 2016. The deal includes the acquisition of 22 properties from affiliates of Harrison Street Real Estate Capital and the recapitalization of two communities previously owned by Scion-affiliated private syndications. CPPIB and GIC each own a 45 percent interest in the newly acquired portfolio and Scion owns the remaining 10 percent. The parties struck a similar deal for three U.S. student housing portfolios for about US$1.6 billion last year.
1 min read · 03 January 2018
Network security company AlgoSec has raised US$36 million from investment firm Claridge Israel to help it expand globally, Reuters reported. AlgoSec, which is headquartered in the United States with its research and development in Israel, provides a system that automates and orchestrates network security policy management. Founded in 2004, the company is led by Chairman and CEO Yuval Baron. Claridge Israel is a partnership between Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, one of the largest institutional investors in Canada, and the Bronfman family’s investment firm Claridge Inc, which is based in Montréal.
1 min read · 03 January 2018
Ride-hailing firm Uber Technologies Inc has agreed to sell its U.S. auto-leasing business Xchange Leasing to startup car marketplace Fair.com, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
1 min read · 26 December 2017
At least three consortia, led by France’s Engie SA, Australia’s Macquarie Group Ltd and the United Arab Emirates’ sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Development Co, delivered proposals for a Brazilian gas pipeline network owned by state oil company Petrobras, sources told Reuters. Proposals to acquire a 90 percent stake in Transportadora Associada de Gás SA, the Petrobras unit known as TAG, which owns 4,500 kilometres of pipelines in northeast Brazil, are expected to range from US$5 billion to up to US$7 billion. Macquarie has partnered with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte Ltd, among others. Petrobras sold another gas pipeline network in southeast Brazil last year to a group led by Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management for US$5.2 billion.
3 min read · 20 December 2017
Rogers Communications Inc, which has said it will keep ownership of the Toronto Blue Jays, could look to leasing, licensing and other financial tools to generate value from the Major League Baseball club, sports deal-makers told Reuters. Rogers’ top executives have said in conversations with investors since October that the Canadian cable TV and wireless company wants to “surface value” from the franchise. Some people interpreted that to mean they were considering selling the team, which Forbes earlier this year valued at US$1.3 billion. Ron Mock, president and CEO of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, last week told BNN the pension fund “may end up looking at” a Blue Jays deal.
3 min read · 19 December 2017
