Private Equity
Canadian alternative equity firm Alaris Royalty Corp has committed an additional US$10 million to C&C Communications LLC (ccComm), a Federal Way, Washington-based Sprint preferred wireless retailer. Alaris, which has backed ccComm since 2016, said the deal's proceeds will fund the company's acquisition of an additional 33 Sprint locations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California, bringing total U.S. locations managed to 96. Alaris has deployed more than $200 million over the past 12 months, including $50 million in follow-on investments in existing portfolio companies.
2 min read · 05 June 2018
A joint venture formalized last week by one of Brazil’s largest conglomerates and a Canadian retirement fund plans to become a major renewable power generator in Brazil, mostly through acquisitions, Reuters reported. Brazil’s Votorantim Energia, controlled by privately-held Votorantim SA, and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) last week closed a deal to form a 50-50 venture to invest in renewable energy in Brazil. Among the opportunities the JV is looking at are subsidiaries that Brazil’s state-controlled power company Centrais Elétricas Brasileiras SA plans to sell.
2 min read · 05 June 2018
Red Deer, Alberta-based auto finance company Rifco Inc (TSX-V: RFC) has agreed to acquire a $25 million portfolio consisting of more than 1,850 consumer automobile loans. The seller, a competing Canadian auto lender, was not identified. The loans portfolio being acquired, which primarily originated in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario, and which Rifco reports have been "performing consistently through the last year," will grow the company's loan assets by over 10 percent. The deal will be financed in part through the proceeds of loans supplied by U.S. alternative assets manager Ares Management.
4 min read · 04 June 2018
Canadian private equity firm Onex Corp has made a US$175 million long-term investment in Ryan Specialty Group LLC (RSG), a Chicago-based specialty insurance organization that provides solutions for brokers, agents and insurance carriers. Onex is investing US$150 million of preferred equity and US$25 million of common equity on a direct basis. Founded in 2010 by Chairman and CEO Patrick Ryan, RSG's global operation includes a wholesale brokerage firm, RT Specialty, and a collection of managing general underwriting companies within RSG Underwriting Managers. Last year, Onex closed its fifth flagship fund, Onex Partners V, raising US$7.15 billion.
3 min read · 04 June 2018
Israeli defence electronics contractor Elbit Systems said this week its wholly owned subsidiary Cyberbit raised US$30 million from Canadian private equity investor Claridge Israel. Cyberbit provides cyber training and simulation technology as well as detection of cyber attacks and response. The investment will facilitate Cyberbit’s expansion of its sales and marketing operations, primarily in North America, enhance customer and partner support and boost development, Elbit said. Claridge Israel is an investment partnership between Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Claridge Inc, the family office of Stephen Bronfman. It was launched in 2015.
1 min read · 04 June 2018
IPL Plastics Inc (IPLP), a Montréal-based packaging solutions provider, has priced its proposed initial public offering of common shares at between $13.50 and $16 per unit. This will generate proceeds of about $180 million, not including the greenshoe option. With the IPO's close, IPLP backers Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and Fonds de solidarité FTQ will respectively hold stakes of 28 percent to 28.9 percent and 6 percent to 6.2 percent. CDPQ and the Fonds have invested in the company's affiliate, Ireland's IPL Plastics plc, since 2015, when as One51 plc it acquired Saint-Damien Québec-based IPL Inc from Novacap for about $280 million.
5 min read · 04 June 2018
U.S. private equity firm Wind Point Partners has partnered with Matt Miller to buy Pestell Group, a New Hamburg, Ontario-based animal feed ingredients distributor and cat litter manufacturer. Terms weren't disclosed. Pestell consists of two businesses, Pestell Minerals and Ingredients and Pestell Pet Products, founded respectively in 1972 and 1990 by Don Pestell. Miller, a consumer packaged goods executive and senior advisor to Wind Point since 2016, joins the company as CEO. Wind Point Managing Director Paul Peterson said his firm will focus on backing Pestell's organic and acquisition-based growth potential. The deal's debt financing was supplied by Antares Capital and BMO Sponsor Finance.
4 min read · 04 June 2018
Canadian private equity firm TorQuest Partners has wrapped up its sale of WSB Titan, a Toronto-based building supplies dealer, to GMS Inc (NYSE: GMS), a Tucker, Georgia-based distributor of gypsum wallboard and suspended ceiling systems. The deal, announced in April, is valued at about $800 million (US$627 million). It brings the combined revenue of GMS to about US$3 billion and increases the company's North American operation to more than 240 branches in 42 states and five Canadian provinces. Doug Skrepnek, Titan's CEO, now becomes president of GMS Canada. TorQuest has backed Titan since 2016.
2 min read · 04 June 2018
U.S. hedge fund Paulson & Co is set to name a group of activist investors that will work together to try to drive changes and better returns from gold mining companies after years of dismal industry performance, sources told Reuters. The Canadian gold-mining index has lost 40 percent of its value in the past decade, compared with a 9 percent gain in the benchmark TSX index and a 95 percent rise in the S&P 500. Gold has risen 46 percent in the same period. The alliance is unusual because there is no similar group of investors targeting a specific sector, activism experts say.
3 min read · 01 June 2018
Fairfax Financial Holdings has closed its acquisition of Toys "R" Us (Canada) Ltd, a Concord, Ontario-based specialty retailer of toys and baby products. The deal is valued at more than $300 million (US$237 million), according to a report by Reuters. Established in 1983, Toys "R" Us Canada and its affiliate Babies "R" Us Canada operate through more than 80 stores located coast to coast. The company's former U.S.-based parent filed for bankruptcy last September and announced its liquidation in March. In April, U.S. and Canadian courts authorized the sale of the domestic business to Fairfax, a Toronto-based holding company led by billionaire Prem Watsa.
4 min read · 01 June 2018
