Private Equity
Pattern Energy Group Inc (TSX, Nasdaq: PEGI) has agreed to sell its stake in K2 Wind, a 270-megawatt wind power facility located in Ontario's Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh region, for $216 million. The buyer is a group of investors led by Axium Infrastructure, a Canadian infrastructure investment firm. Pattern, Axium and Capital Power Corp jointly back K2 Wind, which began commercial operations in 2015. Capital Power is also selling its interest to the Axium-led consortium. Pattern Energy Group LP, Pattern Energy’s main shareholder, is backed by U.S. private equity firm Riverstone Holdings.
3 min read · 07 November 2018
U.S. private debt platform Golub Capital has provided a $170 million one-loan debt facility to support the acquisition of SureWerx, a Vancouver-based supplier of professional tools, equipment and safety products, by Riverside Co. The deal, announced last week, saw the U.S. private equity firm acquire SureWerx from Penfund, a Canadian junior capital provider. Terms weren't disclosed. Golub Senior Managing Director Greg Cashman said SureWerx's U.S. expansion and the growing need for infrastructure construction projects in North America made the company an "attractive investment."
3 min read · 07 November 2018
Rival consortia led by U.S. buyout fund KKR and Germany’s insurer Allianz are among the four main contenders for a stake in the fibre network business of Dutch-based telecom company Altice, sources told Reuters. Altice is selling a stake of between 40 and 60 percent in its fibre network business, a deal that could be worth up to 3.6 billion euros (US$4.11 billion). The two other bidding groups are led by Australian investment firm Macquarie and U.S. infrastructure fund I Squared Capital. Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) has teamed up with Allianz while Singapore’s GIC has joined forces with I Squared, one of the sources said.
2 min read · 06 November 2018
Vancouver-based gold and silver producer Northern Vertex Mining Corp (TSX-V: NEE) has raised an unsecured working capital facility of up to about $13 million (US$10 million). The facility will be provided by U.K. metals and mining private equity firm Greenstone Resources, the company's minority shareholder. Northern Vertex said it expects to repay the facility with the proceeds a private placement and silver stream financing associated with operating its Moss Mine project in Arizona.
5 min read · 06 November 2018
Messagepoint, a Toronto-based customer communications management company, has secured an investment from U.S. private equity firm NewSpring Capital. No financial terms were disclosed. Led by CEO Steve Biancaniello, who co-founded the company in 1998, Messagepoint provides software and services to help customers in financial services, insurance, healthcare and other regulated industries to strengthen their customer communications. The investment's proceeds will be used to expand research and development and enhance sales and marketing initiatives. Two years ago, Messagepoint, formerly known as Prinova, raised $17 million from U.S. growth equity firm Volition Capital.
3 min read · 06 November 2018
Private equity investment in Canada continues to expand, with increasing numbers of investors looking to realize above-average returns. But the pre-acquisition stage can be extremely challenging, especially for general partners who will be actively involved in growing the company to achieve the expected returns. In a PE Hub Canada feature article, Larry Kaumeyer, a CEO who grows and oversees businesses for a PE firm, says GPs can lay the groundwork for a successful investment by combining strategic and financial analysis with a host of soft skills that build trust with owners. He offers several tips in five key pre-acquisition stage areas.
5 min read · 06 November 2018
Thomson Reuters Corp is looking to make “substantive” acquisitions to boost its legal and tax units after selling a majority stake in its financial terminal business, CEO Jim Smith said. The news and information provider has set aside US$2 billion for deals, Smith told Reuters in an interview, after raising US$17 billion from selling 55 percent of its Financial & Risk (F&R) unit to U.S. private equity firm Blackstone Group. “We are interested in bigger, more substantive deals,” Smith said. “I wouldn’t expect a string of small, bolt-on acquisitions. We’d rather spend that $2 billion on a handful of deals rather than spread across a couple of dozen.”
3 min read · 06 November 2018
U.S. hedge fund manager GMT Capital Corp has agreed on a non-binding basis to invest up to $30 million more in Strategic Oil & Gas Ltd (TSX-V: SOG), a Calgary-based oil and gas company. As part of the recapitalization deal, GMT will also settle its existing convertible debentures of Strategic by way of a shares-for-debt agreement. Certain other holders of convertible debentures have agreed to do the same. The transaction accounts for about $111 million, or 96 percent, of outstanding debentures. Strategic said the proceeds of the GMT investment will be used to meet asset retirement obligations and advance its Muskeg oil play in Marlowe, Alberta.
6 min read · 06 November 2018
Reid Canada Inc, an affiliate of Consolidated Container Co (CCC), has acquired Polybottle Group Ltd and Humberline Packaging Inc from ABC Group Inc. Terms weren't disclosed. With facilities in Toronto, Vancouver and Edmonton, Polybottle and Humberline make plastic bottles for the food, beverage, automotive, and industrial and specialty chemical industries. Atlanta-based CCC, an affiliate of Loews Corp (NYSE: L), said the deal supports a new line of bottle products and expands its operations in Canada. ABC Group, a Toronto-based automotive systems and components maker, was acquired in 2016 by U.S. private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management.
3 min read · 06 November 2018
Bounteous, formerly known as HS2 Solutions, has acquired Demac Media, a Toronto-based provider of e-commerce solutions to merchants. No financial terms were disclosed. Bounteous, a Chicago-based full-service digital solutions agency, said the acquisition marks its expansion into Canada. Demac will be renamed Bounteous Canada and led by President Mike Brown. Bounteous secured an investment in 2016 from Mountaingate Capital, a U.S. mid-market private equity firm.
3 min read · 05 November 2018
