Private Equity
Blackstone Group LP, Carlyle Group LP, Onex Corp and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board have joined forces in a bid to acquire U.S. aluminum products maker Arconic Inc, sources told Reuters. Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Arconic’s products, which are made of aluminum, titanium or nickel, are used around the world by aerospace, automotive, commercial transportation and packaging manufacturers. The company, which has a market capitalization of US$10.6 billion and total debt of US$6.3 billion, will decide whether to agree to a sale later this month, the sources said.
3 min read · 09 October 2018
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Generation Investment Management LLP have agreed to buy a majority stake in U.K.-based fintech firm FNZ in a deal valuing the company at 1.6 billion pounds (US$2.09 billion), Reuters reported. The Caisse and Generation partnership will buy out two-thirds of FNZ owned by U.S. private equity firms General Atlantic and HIG Capital. The FNZ deal is the first of a US$3 billion investment that the Caisse, Canada’s second-largest pension fund, and Generation Investment, co-founded by former U.S. vice president Al Gore, plan to make over the next 8 to 15 years.
1 min read · 09 October 2018
Canada’s second-largest pension fund CDPQ and Generation Investment Management LLP said on Tuesday they were buying a majority stake in UK-based fintech firm FNZ in a deal valuing FNZ at 1.6 billion pounds ($2.09 billion), Reuters reported.
1 min read · 09 October 2018
Blackstone Group LP (BX.N), Carlyle Group LP (CG.O), Onex Corp (ONEX.TO) and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board have joined forces in a bid to acquire aluminum products maker Arconic Inc (ARNC.N), Reuters reported.
3 min read · 08 October 2018
KKR & Co (KKR.N) has launched a A$1.75 billion ($1.24 billion) takeover offer for MYOB Group (MYO.AX) after buying almost a fifth of the Australian accounting software provider, as the U.S. private equity firm grows its portfolio of tech businesses, Reuters reported.
3 min read · 08 October 2018
Civitas Solutions Inc (CIVI.N), a U.S. provider of home and community health services to people with disabilities, is exploring strategic alternatives, including a potential sale, sources told Reuters.
1 min read · 05 October 2018
Hootsuite Inc, a Canadian company that describes itself as the world’s most widely used platform for managing social media, is exploring a sale that could value it at more than US$750 million ($968 million), sources told Reuters. A sale would allow Hootsuite’s venture capital backers to cash out at a time when cyber security and privacy concerns make social media analytics companies more popular with corporate clients. Hootsuite’s investors include Accel Partners, CIBC Innovation Banking, Insight Venture Partners and OMERS Ventures. Vancouver-based Hootsuite, founded in 2008 by CEO Ryan Holmes, is working with investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc on an auction process, the sources said.
2 min read · 04 October 2018
A consortium comprised of the real estate investment arm of Canada's Brookfield Asset Management, British privately owned investment firm Peel Group and Saudi conglomerate Olayan Group is considering a possible cash offer for Intu Properties, Reuters reported. The offer is for the share capital of Intu not already owned by consortium members. The group has until November 1 to make a firm offer. Intu is a £2 billion (US$2.6 billion) U.K. owner and operator of shopping centres. Like other property businesses, it has been hit by tough conditions in the U.K’.s retail sector this year that have forced a number of shopping chains to collapse.
2 min read · 04 October 2018
Canadian mergers-and-acquisitions activity nearly doubled in the third quarter, fueled by deals in the mining, real estate and cannabis sectors, Reuters reported. Quarterly deal volume was up 91 percent to US$75.7 billion from US$39.6 billion in the same period last year, according to Thomson Reuters data released this week, bucking a global trend of declines in Europe and Asia. It was the strongest period for Canadian mining M&A since the second quarter of 2011. Mining deals slowed in recent years, due in part to commodity price pressures, balance sheet weakness and investor push back against miners seen as overpaying for assets.
2 min read · 04 October 2018
Retail brokerage TD Ameritrade Holding Corp has invested in a new cryptocurrency exchange called ErisX in a bid to offer clients digital asset investment options beyond the popular bitcoin, Reuters reported. TD Ameritrade clients can already trade bitcoin futures over the CBOE Futures Exchange. ErisX will allow clients to potentially trade other cryptocurrency futures, such as Etherium and Litecoin, said J.B. Mackenzie, TD Ameritrade’s managing director of futures and foreign exchange. TD Ameritrade joined more than a dozen other investors backing the Chicago-based company. Terms weren't disclosed.
1 min read · 03 October 2018
