Private Equity
Every year, Torys LLP conducts a much-anticipated review of private M&A deal terms in transactions the law firm has advised on. In a PE Hub Canada feature article, Partners Laurie Duke, Guy Berman and Stefan Stauder and Counsel Sophia Tolias provide a deep-dive analysis of the state of the Canadian M&A market and how favourable conditions for sellers, sustained cross-border dealmaking, the growing popularity of R&W insurance, and other key factors are influencing trends.
6 min read · 19 April 2018
West Face Capital welcomed the dismissal of a second lawsuit alleging the firm misused confidential information when purchasing a stake in Canadian wireless company Wind Mobile Corp in 2014 as part of a $300 million deal. The $1.3 billion lawsuit, launched by Catalyst Capital Group, was dismissed by an Ontario judge, who called it an “an abuse of process,” the Globe and Mail reported. West Face CEO and Co-CIO Greg Boland said the decision "is yet another independent confirmation of lack of merit to the serial litigation being pursued by Catalyst against West Face for almost four years."
3 min read · 18 April 2018
Canadian energy private equity firm Resource Merchant Capital (RMC) has supplied convertible debenture financing to Snubco Group Inc, a Nisku, Alberta-based provider of pressure control services to the oil and gas industry. No financial terms were disclosed. Founded in 1996, Snubco provides snubbing, well servicing, well control and freeze-hot tapping services to customers in Canada, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. John Taskinen, Snubco’s president and majority shareholder, said the funds raised will support his company's growth initiatives, including the manufacture of a thermal heavy oil rod-stripping unit.
3 min read · 18 April 2018
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has made an undisclosed investment in Metro Supply Chain Group (Metro SCG), a Montréal-based provider of third-party logistics services and supply chain solutions in North America and Europe. Established in 1974 by CEO Chiko Nanji, Metro SCG serves customers with a presence in the consumer-packaged goods, retail, automotive, fashion and e-commerce industries. It will use the partnership with the Caisse to pursue growth, notably through business acquisitions. Last year, Canadian private equity firm Novacap sold its interest in Metro SCG to LDC Logistics Holdings Inc, an existing shareholder.
3 min read · 18 April 2018
An affiliate of Canadian private equity firm Equicapita has acquired Smitty's Canada, a Calgary-based family restaurant chain. No financial terms were released for the deal, which closed earlier this month. Founded in 1960 by Walter Chan, Smitty's has 85 franchise and corporate locations across Canada. Recently led by President Chris Chan, the company will in the future be managed by Steven Fee as president and Eric Metzler as CFO. Equicapita is focused on acquiring private Canadian businesses with enterprise values of $5 million to $50 million-plus. Smitty's is the Calgary firm's seventh portfolio investment.
3 min read · 18 April 2018
Sotera Health LLC has agreed to sell the medical isotopes unit of its Nordion business to BWX Technologies Inc (BWXT), a U.S. supplier of nuclear components and fuel. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which includes Nordion's radiochemical operation and contract manufacturing services in Ottawa and the medical isotope operation in Vancouver. As a result, Nordion, bought in 2014 by Sotera for US$826 million, will focus on growing its gamma technologies division. Sotera, a Broadview Heights, Ohio-based contract sterilization company, is owned by U.S. private equity firms Warburg Pincus and GTCR.
3 min read · 18 April 2018
U.S. activist hedge fund Blue Harbour Group LP CEO Cliff Robbins told a conference in New York this week that Canadian business information management software company Open Text Corp could be acquired, Reuters reported. “There is potential for a strategic sale down the road,” Robbins said, adding that there has been significant consolidation in the software sector. Blue Harbour owns a 3.49 percent stake in Waterloo-based Open Text.
1 min read · 17 April 2018
Westinghouse Electric, which filed for bankruptcy last year, is now “lean and mean and ready to get to work” on its projects to build nuclear reactors in India, U.S. energy secretary Rick Perry said this week. The show of support by Perry came after Pittsburgh-based Westinghouse’s bankruptcy filing had raised doubts about the proposed construction of six nuclear reactors in India’s Andhra Pradesh state. Westinghouse, owned by Japan’s Toshiba Corp which is to be bought by a unit of Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management, is one of the world’s leading suppliers of nuclear fuel and provides some form of service to 80 percent of the world’s 450 commercial reactors.
2 min read · 17 April 2018
Arista Renewable Energies, a Montréal-based renewable energy consultancy, has been acquired by Power Factors LLC, a U.S. provider of renewable energy management software. No financial terms were released. Larkspur, California-based Power Factors, which supports and monitors more than 23 gigawatts of solar and wind projects, said the acquisition will increase its advanced analytics capabilities and result in expansion in Canada. Power Factors is an affiliate of MaxGen Energy Services LLC, a portfolio company of Oaktree Capital Management. It was acquired in 2016.
3 min read · 16 April 2018
U.S. mining private equity firm Orion Mine Finance Group has closed a $75 million investment in Victoria Gold Corp (TSX-V: VIT), a Toronto-based gold explorer and developer. The investment is part of a $295 million debt and equity financing provided by Orion to support development of the company's 100 percent-owned Eagle Gold project in Yukon. Last month, Victoria Gold announced it had agreed to a $505 million financing package intended to back the project through to commercial production. With the close of the investment, Orion holds a 19.55 percent interest in the company.
4 min read · 16 April 2018
