Private Equity
Canadian landlord Oxford Properties Group has lobbed a last-minute A$3.3 billion (US$2.4 billion) bid for Australian office owner Investa Office Fund, edging out an earlier offer from U.S. private equity firm Blackstone Group, Reuters reported. The bid lands two days before a scheduled shareholder meeting to approve Blackstone’s takeover that has Investa’s blessings. It caps years of suitors circling Investa as tight supply and strong growth lift rents in Australia, especially in Sydney where Investa’s towers are concentrated. Oxford invests in and manages real estate assets on behalf of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS).
2 min read · 04 September 2018
California Public Employees’ Retirement System has hired Michael Cohen as its new chief financial officer. His appointment begins October 1, 2018. Previously, Cohen was a director at the California Department of Finance.
3 min read · 29 August 2018
Entertainment Cruises, which is backed by PPC Partners, has acquired Toronto-based Mariposa Cruises, a hospitality cruise operator. No financial terms were disclosed. Headquartered in Chicago, Entertainment Cruises is a dining and sightseeing cruise company.
4 min read · 29 August 2018
Brynwood Partners has named John LeBoutillier as a managing director. Previously, he was president and CEO of Harvest Hill Beverage Company, a portfolio company of Brynwood. Prior to Harvest Hill, LeBoutillier held senior management roles at Kraft Foods and worked at Unilever where he was president of Unilever Canada.
4 min read · 29 August 2018
3 min read · 28 August 2018
Canadian private equity firm Altas Partners has appointed Dominic Barton to its advisory board. Barton is a senior partner and global managing partner emeritus at McKinsey & Company.
3 min read · 28 August 2018
DW Healthcare Partners, a Toronto-based healthcare private equity firm, recently announced that it sold its portfolio company PRIME Education to an undisclosed strategic buyer. DW Healthcare first invested in PRIME Education, a Florida-based healthcare education company, in November 2016. Financial terms were not disclosed.
2 min read · 27 August 2018
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec said it recently acquired 5.84 million additional shares in SPIE SA, a French provider of multi-technical services to the energy and communications sectors. The investment was valued at 100 million euros ($150 million). The Caisse, a Canadian pension system, has invested 280 million euros ($422 million) in the company since 2011. Established in 1900, Paris-based SPIE operates from 600 locations in 38 countries.
2 min read · 24 August 2018
The investment pace in Canada’s private equity market continued to slow in the first half of 2018, according to a report by the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA). A total of $7.6 billion was invested in 146 PE deals in the second quarter, bringing the year-to-date total to $14.5 billion over 288 deals. Two mega-deals took 69 percent of dollars invested at the end of June. They were the $5.1 billion recapitalization of GFL Environmental Inc and the $4.9 billion acquisition of Husky IMS International Ltd. More than one-fifth of PE deals in the first half were closed in the industrial and manufacturing sector, while the information technology sector accounted for 16 percent.
4 min read · 23 August 2018
Canadian private equity firm TriWest Capital Partners has invested in PRT Growing Services Ltd, a Victoria, British Columbia-based provider of containerized growing processes for a range of forestry seedling species. Terms weren't disclosed for the deal, which saw TriWest partner with PRT senior management led by CEO Robert Miller. Founded in 1988, PRT operates 18 growing and cold storage facilities serving reforestation needs in Canada and the United States. Its nurseries have a capacity to produce in more than 215 million seedlings per year. TriWest Managing Director Ryan Giles said PRT is positioned to execute on "its backlog of organic and acquisitive growth opportunities across North America."
3 min read · 23 August 2018
