Private Equity
Avison Young Inc has acquired Alcor Commercial Realty Inc, a Vancouver-based boutique commercial real estate management company. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which will see Alcor rebrand immediately. As a result of the buy, Avison, a Toronto-based provider of commercial real estate services, adds 37 commercial, retail and industrial properties in British Columbia. Avison is a portfolio investment of Parallel49 Equity, a Canadian private equity firm. Between 2011 and 2015, it was backed by Parallel49’s predecessor, Tricor Pacific Capital.
6 min read · 04 April 2018
U.S. graphite electrode maker GrafTech International Ltd said this week it could raise up to US$907 million ($1.16 billion) in what could be the largest initial public offering in the steel sector in a decade, Reuters reported. The offering of 37.8 million shares is expected to be priced between US$21 and US$24 per unit. The shares are being offered by GrafTech’s sole shareholder — Brookfield Business Partners LP, the listed vehicle of Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management's private equity group. The group acquired Independence, Ohio-based GrafTech in 2015.
1 min read · 04 April 2018
U.S. private equity firm Blue Wolf Capital Partners has acquired a majority stake in The State Group Inc, a Toronto-based multi-trade contractor providing maintenance, repair and capital services to industrial clients across North America. No financial terms were released for the deal, which was also backed by Canadian private equity firm Yellow Point Equity Partners as a minority investor. Blue Wolf's Michael Ranson and Bennet Grill and Yellow Point's Tyler Smyrski will join the board. CEO Marc Dumont, who will continue to lead The State Group, said the deal will help the company pursue opportunities seen "in the end markets of our customer base."
4 min read · 04 April 2018
Coveo, a Québec City-based provider of artificial intelligence-powered insight engines, has raised $100 million in follow-on financing. The deal was led by Evergreen Coast Capital, the private equity affiliate of U.S. investment management firm Elliott Management Corp. Elliott secured a 27 percent stake as a result. Founded in 2005 and led by CEO Louis Têtu, Coveo serves more than 1,000 customers worldwide. The company will use the funds raised to accelerate growth by investing in sales and marketing, channels, new product lines and R&D, and by making acquisitions. Coveo's existing investors include BDC Capital, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Tandem Expansion Fund and Telesystem.
4 min read · 04 April 2018
InstarAGF Asset Management has acquired Amports Inc, an automotive port logistics and processing company based in Jacksonville, Florida. No financial terms were disclosed. The seller was Lincolnshire Management, a U.S. private equity firm. Lincolnshire bought the company from Highstar Capital in 2014. Operating from facilities in the United States and Mexico, Amports offers portside services in vehicle processing, including loading and unloading, inspection, storage, installations, customizations, repairs and distribution services. Toronto-based InstarAGF is investing from InstarAGF Essential Infrastructure Fund, which raised $740 million last year.
3 min read · 03 April 2018
Shares of Callidus Capital Corp, the Toronto specialty lending company owned by Canadian private equity firm Catalyst Capital Group, plunged to an all-time low this week after it reported a fourth-quarter and annual loss, Reuters reported. This resulted in a sharp drop in share values. The decline comes after more than a year of Catalyst’s attempts to sell Callidus to a private buyer, saying last year it was targeting a price of $18 to $22 a share. Catalyst and Callidus head Newton Glassman said that the effort to take the company private continues, with “numerous parties” still part of the process.
2 min read · 03 April 2018
Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Canada’s third-biggest public pension plan, more than doubled its 2017 net return from investments compared with the year before, boosted by strong returns in private equity and infrastructure, Reuters reported. Strong performances from those asset classes helped the fund increase the value of its net assets to $189.5 billion at the end of 2017. Ontario Teachers' also said Chief Investment Officer Bjarne Graven Larsen, who joined the fund in January 2016 and has steered its investment strategy since then, had resigned and planned to return to Denmark.
2 min read · 03 April 2018
STEP Energy Services Ltd (TSX: STEP) has wrapped up its acquisition of the issued and outstanding capital stock of Tucker Energy Services Holdings Inc, a Houston-based provider of fracturing and completion solutions to the U.S. oil and gas industry. The deal, announced in February, had a total cash consideration of about $350 million (US$275 million). STEP also closed new credit facilities and an equity financing, the proceeds of which were used to help fund the buy. STEP, a Calgary-based oilfield service company, is backed by Canadian energy private equity firm ARC Financial Corp.
2 min read · 03 April 2018
Greengate Power Corp, a Calgary-based renewable and clean energy developer, has secured a multi-year, $100 million equity commitment from Fengate Real Asset Investments. The partnership will allow Greengate to develop and eventually build-out its 1,000 megawatt portfolio of late-stage wind and solar projects and acquire projects in Alberta, with the potential to expand across North America. Founded in 2007, Greengate has originated and developed 480 megawatts of producing power assets in its home province and Ontario. Toronto-based Fengate is an infrastructure, private equity and real estate investment firm.
4 min read · 03 April 2018
Mattress maker Owen & Co Ltd, which operates in Canada primarily under the Kingsdown brand, has merged with its U.S. counterpart Kingsdown Inc. No financial terms were disclosed. The deal was backed by Canadian private equity firm Novacap, which acquired Toronto-based Owen & Co last year. As a result, the 114-year-old Kingsdown mattress and sleeping products brand, which began in Mebane, North Carolina in 1904, will return to common ownership. Novacap said it will invest in the North American and global growth strategy of Kingsdown Group and use the company's distribution network to further advance the recently acquired Zedbed Inc.
4 min read · 03 April 2018
