Private Equity
Japanese car parts maker Calsonic Kansei, owned by U.S. private equity firm KKR, has agreed to buy Fiat Chrysler’s high-tech parts-making unit Magneti Marelli unit for 6.2 billion euros ($7.1 billion), Reuters reported.
1 min read · 22 October 2018
A consortium of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and Brazil’s Votorantim Energia won a privatization auction this week to buy a controlling stake in power company Companhia Energética de Sao Paulo SA (Cesp) from the government of Sao Paulo state, Reuters reported. The consortium will pay 14.6 reais per Cesp share, a 2.09 percent premium over the minimum sale price at the auction. Considering the government's stake of 40.6 percent, the consortium will pay a total of 1.7 billion reais (US$458.25 million). CPPIB and Votorantim Energia already have a joint venture in Brazil that plans invest in renewable power sources.
1 min read · 19 October 2018
Canadian mining private equity firm Waterton Global Resource Management said it would call for a special meeting of Hudbay Minerals Inc’s shareholders after the Canadian miner refused its proposal for changes to its board, Reuters reported. Waterton, which said it owns a 7 percent stake in Hudbay, had also asked the miner to avoid any near-term acquisition or joint venture in a filing this week. Hudbay is in talks to buy Chilean miner Mantos Copper SA, according to media reports. “Hudbay’s recent market performance has been atrocious, as the company currently trades at a material discount to its peer group on multiple key valuation metrics,” Waterton said in a statement.
1 min read · 19 October 2018
U.K. shopping centre owner Intu Properties said it was considering a 215 pence per share preliminary takeover offer from a consortium led by its deputy chairman John Whittaker, Reuters reported. The proposed deal, backed by Saudi Arabia’s Olayan Group and Canadian property investor Brookfield Asset Management, values the FTSE 250 firm which owns Manchester’s Trafford Centre at 2.91 billion pounds (US$3.8 billion). Whittaker’s consortium initially offered 205 pence per Intu share on October 11. Olayan and Whittaker’s Peel Group already hold 29.9 percent of Intu.
2 min read · 19 October 2018
Blackstone Group LP (BX.N), the U.S. buyout firm which is relying on Saudi Arabia to provide half the money for its planned $40 billion infrastructure fund, waved off concerns about funding on Thursday even as controversy rages over the disappearance of a Saudi journalist that has frayed relations between Wall Street and the oil-rich kingdom, Reuters reported.
3 min read · 19 October 2018
U.S. private equity giant Blackstone Group has quit a takeover battle for Australian office-block owner Investa Office Fund after it was gazumped by Canadian landlord Oxford Properties Group’s A$3.35 billion (US$2.4 billion) bid, Reuters reported. Blackstone told Investa it would not match the offer, all but handing the sought-after target to Oxford as office rents boom, especially in Sydney where Investa’s 20 towers are concentrated. Oxford’s offer will be voted on by shareholders at a meeting to be scheduled in December. Oxford invests in and manages real estate assets on behalf of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS).
3 min read · 18 October 2018
U.S. hedge fund Livermore Partners is calling for an overhaul of the board at Detour Gold Corp and a strategic review, becoming the second activist to target the Canadian mining company, Reuters reported. Livermore sent a letter to Detour this week, saying the board has failed its shareholders on “numerous governance and operational matters.” The move comes after Paulson & Co asked for Detour’s entire board to be replaced and demanded a formal process to evaluate alternatives. Livermore Managing Director David Neuhauser said Detour needed to a hire a global investment bank to evaluate all strategic options, including a sale or a joint venture with a partner, such as a Chinese miner.
2 min read · 16 October 2018
Investa Office Fund (IOF) has given U.S. private equity firm Blackstone Group four days to match a rival offer by Canada’s Oxford Properties Group as the bidding war for the Australian office owner comes to a head, Reuters reported. IOF said in a statement that its board has assessed Oxford’s binding proposal and determined it to be superior to the Blackstone offer. Oxford, the real estate investment arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS), upped its offer last month to A$5.60 a share, which was A$0.10 higher than Blackstone’s latest bid and valued IOF at A$3.35 billion (US$2.38 billion).
1 min read · 15 October 2018
U.S. hedge fund Paulson & Co has rejected proposals from Canadian miner Detour Gold Corp which would have removed its interim CEO in aid of settling a proxy dispute over the company’s future, Reuters reported. The settlement Detour said it had proposed to Paulson on October 9 would have resulted in almost half of its board being refreshed in six weeks, with interim CEO Michael Kenyon stepping down before the next AGM. Paulson, which has called for the company to explore strategic alternatives including a sale, in July called for a special shareholders meeting and nominated eight new directors.
2 min read · 15 October 2018
Lithium producer Livent Corp (LTHM.N) fell 3.6 percent in its market debut on Thursday after being priced at the lower end of its expected range, as investors worried about the recent declines in prices of lithium in China, the world’s largest consumer of the ultralight metal.
2 min read · 11 October 2018
