Private Equity
Brookfield Asset Management's Public Securities Group (PSG) has agreed to buy Center Coast Capital Holdings, an energy infrastructure-focused investment firm, for an undisclosed amount, Reuters reported. Houston-based Center Coast has over US$4 billion of assets under management and will allow the Brookfield unit to bolster its product offering to include investments in energy assets such as tax-efficient master limited partnerships (MLPs), which house midstream assets. The investment comes amid renewed interest from large asset managers to buy into energy investment firms which focus on MLPs, after question marks were raised over the structure's long-term viability.
2 min read · 10 October 2017
Canadian pension funds Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) and Alberta Investment Management Corp (AIMCo) have partnered with Starlight Investments to buy Parkhouse Apartment Homes, a 465-unit, multi-family property located in Denver, Colorado. No financial terms were released. The deal represents the first in a joint US$1.3 billion program of acquisitions of multi-family communities located in select markets across the United States. Starlight is a Toronto-based real estate investment and asset management firm.
4 min read · 10 October 2017
AQTWM Inc, or Aqua Terra Water Management LP, has filed a preliminary prospectus with domestic securities regulatory authorities for an initial public offering of its common shares. The IPO, which has not yet been priced, will be made through a syndicate of underwriters co-led by TD Securities Inc, Canaccord Genuity Corp and RBC Capital Markets Inc. Aqua Terra was launched in 2013 by Bregal Partners, a U.S. private equity firm, to provide oilfield water management and logistics services. It acquired multiple Canadian companies, beginning with Four Winds Energy Services Ltd (2013). Aqua Terra's Canadian office is in Calgary.
3 min read · 10 October 2017
Activist investors are stepping up campaigns to drive change in Canada’s $67 billion real estate investment trust sector as they see attractive prices and opportunities to unlock value, Reuters reported. Activists are also looking to tackle perceived corporate governance issues such as high management and board compensation, as well as to tap frustrations from institutional investors about under-performing stocks. Canadian REIT activism has been on the rise in recent years, according to figures from Activist Insight, even as activism in the broader Canadian market has dropped after peaking in 2015.
3 min read · 10 October 2017
Canada's Brookfield Asset Management has refrained from improving an original bid for Brazilian renewable power company Renova Energia SA, after due diligence proceedings showed liabilities that were unaccounted for, a source told Reuters. Brookfield is leaning toward presenting a bid to Cia Energética de Minas Gerais SA and Light SA, valuing their combined 67 percent voting stake at the equivalent of 9 reais (US$2.85) per unit of Renova. In addition to the auditing impasse, Cemig’s precarious financial situation also played a role on Brookfield’s decision, the source said.
2 min read · 06 October 2017
Birch Hill Equity Partners’ recent wrap-up of its buy of CCM Hockey signals the start of a potentially fierce contest between hockey brands acquired this year by private equity firms. Birch Hill agreed in July to purchase CCM, a storied, 118-year old Canadian hockey equipment maker, from Adidas for US$110 million in cash and a secured note. The Toronto investor told PE Hub Canada the deal closed last month. It marks 2017's third PE acquisition of one or more hockey brands in North America.
4 min read · 06 October 2017
Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management Inc is in advanced talks to buy Abengoa SA’s 41.5 percent stake in its U.S. unit Atlantica Yield Plc, Reuters reported, citing a story by Bloomberg. Brookfield's clean energy unit, Brookfield Renewable Partners LP, and Spain's Abengoa could reach an agreement within weeks, the story said. Reuters had reported in April that renewable energy company Abengoa had started a process to sell its 41 percent stake valued at US$900 million.
1 min read · 05 October 2017
Private equity funds are increasingly selling minority stakes in investments to pension and sovereign wealth funds as they strive to deliver returns for investors while holding onto prized assets in a hotly competitive market for deals, Reuters reported. Typically, private equity funds hold an investment for several years and then sell most or all of it to another private equity house, a corporate buyer, or list it on the stock market. Now, a growing number are opting just to sell a small part of an investment, enabling them to book some profit without being left with a lot of capital to redeploy. Singaporean sovereign wealth funds and Canadian pension funds have been some of the biggest buyers of minority stakes from private equity firms.
3 min read · 05 October 2017
Brookfield Property Partners LP is considering options for its office properties in the Northeastern United States that include the potential sale of a stake that could value the portfolio at as much as US$10 billion, sources told Reuters. The sale, which could attract interest from investment firms and sovereign wealth funds, would allow Brookfield Property to capitalize on the value of its high-end office assets, many of which are in major U.S. cities such as New York and Washington, the sources said. Brookfield Property was created in 2013 when it was spun off by its parent Brookfield Asset Management Inc, a Toronto-based alternative investment firm. Brookfield Asset Management remains the largest shareholder in Brookfield Property.
2 min read · 05 October 2017
Canadian alternative assets manager Sprott Inc (TSX: SII) has partnered with Ceres Partners, a U.S. farmland private equity firm, in the launch of a new institutional farmland fund. The Ceres-Sprott Institutional Farmland Fund will focus on acquiring and leasing farmland assets in the United States. Other details of the fund, such as its expected size, were not disclosed. Ceres manages Ceres Farms, a fund that owns nearly 100,000 acres of U.S. farmland with total assets of about US$620 million. In July, Canadian farmland private equity firm AreaOne Farms closed its third fund at $130 million.
3 min read · 05 October 2017
