Private Equity
U.S. venue management company SMG’s leveraged buyout by Canadian private equity firm Onex Corp will be backed by a US$650 million loan package, sources told Reuters. Jefferies, Nomura and Macquarie Group are providing the financing. SMG provides services including facility staffing and training, food and beverage, event booking, management and promotion, financial management and maintenance. Its client roster spans stadiums, arenas, convention centres, theatres and recreational and equestrian facilities. Onex is paying around US$1 billion before fees and expenses for SMG and will contribute approximately US$440 million in equity, one of the sources said.
2 min read · 13 December 2017
Canadian private equity firm Clairvest Group has introduced changes to its top leadership. Co-CEO and Managing Director Jeff Parr will transition to vice chairman and managing director, while Managing Director Michael Wagman will become president and managing director. Wagman will also join Clairvest's board. Ken Rotman will continue to lead the firm as CEO and managing director. Rotman and Parr co-led Clairvest for 22 years. Founded in 1987, the Toronto-based firm has under its current management team invested $1 billion in 42 mid-market companies.
2 min read · 13 December 2017
U.S. activist hedge fund investor Land and Buildings reiterated that Canadian department store operator Hudson’s Bay Co’s real estate assets were worth substantially more than the company’s current market valuation, Reuters reported. Jonathan Litt-led Land and Buildings, which held a 5 percent stake in Hudson’s Bay as of July, has been pressing the company to boost its sliding share price by extracting value from its real estate holdings. Hudson’s Bay this year sold its flagship Lord & Taylor building in New York for US$850 million, and has put up its Vancouver store for sale for $900 million. Litt said the company’s real estate and capital deals could give it a cash hoard of more than US$3 billion, which would help fund a going private transaction.
2 min read · 12 December 2017
MTY Food Group Inc (TSX: MTY) has agreed to buy Imvescor Restaurant Group Inc (TSX: IRG) in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $248 million. Montréal-based MTY said the deal, expected to close in the first half of 2018, will create a diversified franchisor with a "strong balance sheet and highly scalable portfolio of recognized restaurant brands and concepts." The combined entity will have more than 5,700 stores under 75 brands and about $2.9 billion in system sales. Imvescor investors representing about 18 percent of issued and outstanding shares have agreed to support the deal. They include U.S. hedge fund Camac Partners.
8 min read · 12 December 2017
Knowlton Development Corp (KDC) has acquired Northern Labs Inc, a Manitowoc, Wisconsin-based full-service liquid product contract manufacturer. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which was financed by Canadian private equity firm Novacap, KDC's majority owner, as well as Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, IQ, Export Development Canada, Fondaction CSN and others. KDC, a Longueuil, Québec-based maker of health and beauty products, said the acquisition will enhance its speciality household division, which was created last month with the company's buy of Strategic Value Partners' Aromair unit.
5 min read · 12 December 2017
Tiger Infrastructure Partners, a U.S. infrastructure private equity firm, has made an undisclosed investment in Crosslake Fibre Inc, a Toronto developer of fibre-optic projects in Canada and the United States. Founded in 2016 by CEO Michael Cunningham, Crosslake is undertaking the first submarine cable system across Lake Ontario to directly connect Toronto and Buffalo, New York. The project, launched in May, is expected to be ready for service in September 2018. Crosslake is also planning for a submarine cable system connecting cable landing stations in Wall, New Jersey to Long Island, New York. The partnership with Tiger will support the company's growth, Cunningham said.
3 min read · 11 December 2017
Vancouver-based junior mining company Firesteel Resources Inc (TSX-V: FTR) has raised US$20.6 million in funding under a prepaid forward gold purchase agreement. The agreement was made with an affiliate of Pandion Mine Finance, a U.S. mining investment firm. The funds raised will be used by the company to restart production at the Laiva Gold Mine near Raahe, Finland and retire certain creditor obligations. Firesteel plans to eventually acquire 100 percent of the Laiva project. Pandion is backed by Mks Pamp Group and Ospraie Management.
4 min read · 11 December 2017
Canada’s Fairfax Africa Investments will not proceed with a plan to buy 23 percent of cement producer PPC for 2 billion rand (US$146.34 million), Reuters reported. Fairfax offered to buy 23 percent of PPC in September for 5.75 rand per share, or 2 billion rand, on condition that it was approved by shareholders in order to allow a merger with South African rival cement maker AfriSam. Last month PPC’s board said it had advised Fairfax that it would not be recommending the offer to shareholders. Fairfax Africa, an affiliate of Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd, earlier this year raised US$500 million to invest public equity, private equity and debt in African businesses.
1 min read · 11 December 2017
GGP Inc, one of the largest owners and operators of U.S. shopping centers, has rejected a US$14.8 billion buyout offer from its biggest shareholder, Brookfield Property Partners LP, sources told Reuters. Brookfield Property made a US$23-per-share cash and stock offer last month for the 66 percent of GGP it does not already own. A combination of Chicago-based GGP and Brookfield Property would create one of the world’s largest publicly traded property companies. Brookfield Property is considering a new offer for GGP after a special committee of GGP’s board directors turned down its November 11 offer as inadequate, and negotiations between the two companies are expected to continue, the sources said. The acquisition would create a company with an ownership interest in almost US$100 billion real estate assets globally and annual net operating income of about US$5 billion, according to Brookfield Property.
2 min read · 11 December 2017
Canadian private equity firm Onex Corp has agreed to acquire SMG Holdings Inc (SMG World), a West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania-based manager of convention centres, stadiums, arenas, theatres, performing arts centres and other venues. No financial terms were released for the deal, which is expected to close in early 2018. Founded in 1977, SMG provides management services to nearly 240 venues worldwide. It was bought in 2007 by American Capital, which was bought earlier this year by Ares Capital Corp. Onex is acquiring SMG through Onex Partners IV, which raised US$5.7 billion in 2014. Onex Partners V closed last month at US$7.15 billion.
3 min read · 11 December 2017
