Private Equity
Bombardier Inc should look at all options for its transportation business including partnering with China’s state-owned CRRC Corp, Reuters reported, quoting one of Bombardier’s biggest shareholders. “I think we have to look at everything. Every opportunity that comes up ought to be looked at,” Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec Chief Executive Michael Sabia told reporters when asked about a deal with CRRC. Germany’s Siemens and France’s Alstom said they are merging their train manufacturing operations in September, leaving Bombardier competing in a market dominated by CRRC, the world’s largest train maker. The Caisse announced a $2.1 billion (US$1.5 billion) convertible share investment in Bombardier’s rail arm in 2015 and closed the deal the following year.
2 min read · 02 November 2017
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has provided a US$40 million ($50.4 million) loan to Sunrun Inc, a San Francisco-based developer, installer, marketer and operator of residential photovoltaic solar energy systems. The loan formed part of a US$234.5-million senior secured credit facility that is related to a solar energy portfolio originated by the company. The Caisse said the deal marks its entrance into the U.S. residential solar energy sector.
3 min read · 01 November 2017
Signa Holding, the Austrian property and retail group that owns German department store chain Karstadt, has made a 3 billion euro (US$3.5 billion) offer to acquire Hudson’s Bay Co’s German peer Kaufhof, sources told Reuters. Signa submitted the fully financed bid this week, the sources said. They added that Signa expects Hudson’s Bay, which has been reluctant so far to engage in negotiations to sell Kaufhof, to respond by mid-November.The bid comes one week after Hudson’s Bay agreed to sell its flagship Lord & Taylor building in New York for US$850 million to WeWork Cos and raise an investment from U.S. private equity firm Rhône Capital.
3 min read · 01 November 2017
Deal-making in Canada's buyout and private equity market continued to grow at a strong pace in the third quarter of 2017, according to final data released by Thomson Reuters. Additionally, at the end of September, 261 deals took $23.8 billion in disclosed values, up 73 percent year over year, which is the highest nine-month level on record. Deal volumes increased at a more moderate 8 percent from the same time last year, pointing to the key influence of large-cap transactions. Canadian investors were active in 88 global deals in the first nine months of 2017, up 7 percent from the same time in 2016, though disclosed values for these fell 32 percent.
4 min read · 01 November 2017
Canadian private equity firm Mosaic Capital Corp has acquired a 75 percent interest in Circle 5 Tool & Mold Inc, a Windsor, Ontario-based supplier of molding solutions to automotive parts manufacturers. Mosaic bought the stake for $27 million in cash. Saylo Lam, Circle 5's president and operating shareholder, who will hold the remaining 25 percent interest, said the deal will support organic and acquisition growth opportunities. Founded in 1987, Circle 5 has a global customer base that includes such automotive brands as BMW, Ford, Volkswagen, General Motors, Toyota, Daimler and Tesla. It operates from a 50,000 square-foot facility in Windsor.
3 min read · 01 November 2017
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan has agreed to sell 30 percent of its stakes in Bristol Airport and Birmingham Airport, both U.K. regional airports. The stakes will be sold to Australia's New South Wales Treasury Corp (TCorp) and Sunsuper Superannuation Fund for an undisclosed sum. With the deal's close, expected next month, Ontario Teachers', TCorp and Sunsuper will own 70 percent, 15 percent and 15 percent of Bristol Airport, and 33.8 percent, 7.2 percent and 7.2 percent of Birmingham Airport, respectively. Ontario Teachers', an investor in the two U.K. airports since 2001, also has holdings in three other major European freehold airports.
4 min read · 31 October 2017
Nicola Wealth Management, a Canadian asset fund manager and private investment counsel, has launched its NWM Private Debt Fund to make direct and indirect investments in private debt opportunities. The fund's size was not disclosed. Nicola President David Sung said the fund will partner with "handpicked sub-managers" to identify diverse private debt opportunities across regions, industries and strategies. These managers include Canadian private equity firms Crown Capital Partners and Penfund, as well as U.S. firms Oaktree Capital Management and THL Credit Advisors.
2 min read · 31 October 2017
Canadian private equity firm Roynat Equity Partners and partner Tepper Holdings Inc, a Canadian holding company, have sold their majority ownership in Comtrad Strategic Sourcing, a sourcing and logistics business. The sale resulted from the recent investment in Comtrad by Ardenton Capital Corp in partnership with President and CEO Jim Long. Based in Mississauga, Ontario, Comtrad imports and distributes products from Asian suppliers to North American manufacturers and distributors. Long said his company "experienced significant growth and diversification" while owned by Roynat and Tepper.
3 min read · 31 October 2017
ROOT Data Center has raised $90 million in new financing from Goldman Sachs. Based in Montréal, ROOT is a pure-play wholesale colocation solutions provider to the global computer industry. The company, which currently operates two data centres in Montréal, plans to use the funds raised to grow into new regional markets, complete facility expansions, and meet the demands of its existing customers. Led by President and CEO AJ Byers, ROOT last year secured $25 million in growth financing from U.S. private equity firm ABRY Partners.
3 min read · 31 October 2017
French energy company Engie SA and Brazilian investment firm Pátria Investimentos Ltda are among 20 groups interested in a controlling stake in a gas pipeline network owned by Petroleo Brasileiro SA, sources told Reuters. Petrobras, as Brazil’s state-controlled oil company is known, will receive a first round of non-binding proposals for a 90 percent stake in Transportadora Associada de Gás SA, known as TAG, by the end of November, the sources said. Other contenders for TAG, which owns 4,500 kilometres of natural gas pipelines in northeastern region of Brazil, include Abu Dhabi state-owned holding Mubadala Development Co, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and U.S. private equity group EIG Global Energy Partners. One of the sources said Petrobras aimed to fetch a price above the US$5.2 billion paid last year by a group led by Brookfield Asset Management for another gas pipeline company, Nova Transportadora do Sudeste SA.
2 min read · 31 October 2017
