Private Equity
Trader Corp has acquired DealerBreacher, a Montréal-based digital advertising solutions provider to the automotive industry, for an undisclosed sum. Trader, a Toronto-based digital automotive marketplace and software solutions provider, said the deal will support the company's "future plans focused on speed of innovation" linked to Canadian dealer and consumer needs. Founded in 2015 by Frederic Binette and Benoit Laforce, DealerBreacher will continue to operate independently and under the same leadership team. Trader was acquired in 2016 by U.S. private equity firm Thoma Bravo from U.K. private equity firm Apax Partners. The deal was valued at about $1.57 billion.
3 min read · 31 May 2018
Leverage levels for buyouts are close to pre-credit crisis levels as banks are more willing to underwrite highly leveraged deals following the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s softened stance towards lending risk, Reuters reported. So far during Q2 2018, leverage for U.S. buyouts averages 6.57 times, the highest level since it reached 6.65 times during Q3 2014. Leverage at this level had not been seen before that since 2007, before the credit crisis hit when leverage on buyouts topped out at 6.8 times on average.
3 min read · 31 May 2018
Canadian private equity firm Mosaic Capital Corp announced that CEO Mark Gardhouse has assumed the additional role of president. He replaces Harold Kunik, a Mosaic co-founder, who will continue to serve on the board. Gardhouse and George Flemming, president and CEO of oil and industrial services company Plains Environmental Inc, were also appointed directors. Gardhouse joined Mosaic, a Calgary-based investor in established, mid-market Canadian businesses, in mid-2016. His prior private equity career includes leading CA Bancorp and the mid-market buyout group at Roynat Capital.
3 min read · 31 May 2018
Fairfax Financial Holdings has agreed to invest an additional US$500 million in Seaspan Corp (NYSE: SSW), a Hong Kong-based provider of container shipping liners. The transaction, which will increase Fairfax's total investment to US$1 billion, will be accomplished through the exercise of 77 million warrants. Seaspan Chairman David Sokol said the deal supports the company's strategy to drive consolidation in the global containership sector and leverage other opportunities in the shipping sector and "beyond it." Fairfax, a Toronto-based holding company, is led by Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa.
5 min read · 31 May 2018
India’s Reliance Communications expects to complete its asset sale to Reliance Jio Infocomm and Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management in coming weeks, after the bankruptcy appeals court halted insolvency proceedings against the debt-laden company, Reuters reported. The US$2.7 billion sale of wireless assets will include airwaves and mobile masts to Jio and Brookfield. Like other established Indian telecom companies, RCom has been hit by a fierce price war over the last year. It shut its mobile operations late last year.
2 min read · 30 May 2018
Apparel retail store operator La Maison Simons Inc announced a $215 million investment for the construction of a multi-service fulfillment centre in Québec City, the company's headquarters. The family-owned Simons said the centre, slated to open in 2020, will help it increase productivity and order fulfillment capacity, both in store and online, allowing the business to remain competitive in the retail market. Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Investissement Québec (IQ) agreed to invest $44 million in the initiative, giving them stakes in Simons. The Caisse will commit $27 million, with IQ accounting for the rest.
8 min read · 30 May 2018
Construction Supply Group (CSG) has acquired Richform Construction Supply, a Vancouver-based distributor of concrete accessories, forming hardware and tilt-up construction systems. No financial terms were released for the deal, which was announced with CSG's acquisition of U.S.-based Williams Equipment & Supply. Richform, founded in 1987, will be combined with Brock White Canada. CSG, a Denver, Colorado-based distributor of specialty construction materials, accessories and tools used mostly by concrete and masonry contractors, has been backed by U.S. private equity firm the Sterling Group since 2016.
2 min read · 30 May 2018
The pace of dealmaking in Canada’s private equity market slowed in the first quarter of 2018, with a total of $6.5 billion invested in 137 transactions, according to a report by the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA). CVCA found few $100 million-plus deals in this period, apart from the buyout of Husky IMS International Ltd. Deals sized less than $25 million took the largest share of PE activity in Q1 2018, or 61 percent. The industrial and manufacturing sector led trends between January and March, accounting for 21 percent of deals, while the information and communication technology sector captured a 15 percent share.
3 min read · 30 May 2018
Canada’s biggest public pension funds could be long-term buyers of Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd’s Trans Mountain pipeline but are unlikely to invest until the $7.4 billion project has been built, several sources told Reuters. Frank McKenna, Toronto-Dominion Bank’s deputy chairman, said he expected pension funds and private equity players to be interested in the asset as well as other pipeline or infrastructure players. “I think there will be a lot of private sector interest in this project once the political risk is taken out of it,” he said.
2 min read · 29 May 2018
Greenbriar Capital Corp (TSX-V: GRB), a Vancouver-based developer of renewable energy, sustainable real estate and smart energy products, has raised about $344 million (US$265 million) in financing. The investor was the mezzanine arm of Pegasus Capital Advisors, a U.S. alternative asset manager that invests in the sustainability and wellness sectors. The new money, when combined with a prior investment by Pegasus, brings the total financing to about $410 million (US$315 million). Greenbriar said the funds raised will cover the anticipated cost of the company's Montalva Project, a 100 megawatt AC solar initiative located in Puerto Rico.
2 min read · 29 May 2018
