Canada

Mill Street acquires HRAC provider Nottawasaga Mechanical

Canadian private investment firm Mill Street & Co has acquired Nottawasaga Mechanical, a Wasaga Beach, Ontario-based heating, refrigeration and air conditioning services contractor. No financial terms were released. Established in 1986, Nottawasaga designs and installs comfort systems for owners of new and existing homes in the region of Central Ontario. Mill Street invested in the business via its Mechanical Construction Group. Mill Street acquired Aircon Mechanical Systems Inc and Trinity Energy Innovations Inc in December 2016.

Quad-C-backed Vaco enters Canada with Lannick deal

Lannick Group, a Toronto-based recruitment and staffing provider, has been bought by Vaco, a U.S. talent acquisition and consulting business. No financial terms were disclosed. Established in 1985, Lannick is a specialist in talent solutions for the accounting, finance and IT fields. Vaco, which is based in Brentwood, Tennessee, said the acquisition expands its reach and marks its entry into the Canadian market. Founded in 2002, Vaco is a portfolio investment of U.S. private equity firm Quad-C Management. Quad-C acquired a majority stake in the company in 2014.

CPPIB to invest $1.3 bln in Spanish gas distribution business

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has partnered with Allianz Capital Partners to buy a minority equity interest in the Spanish gas distribution business of Gas Natural Fenosa. CPPIB and Allianz will invest €$1.5 billion to acquire a 20 percent stake in the unit, the largest gas distribution network in Spain, serving some 1,100 municipalities. CPPIB's share of the investment is about $1.34 billion (€900 million). The transaction is expected to be completed in January 2018. Based in Barcelona, Gas Natural Fenosa is a gas and electricity company.

Northleaf opens Montréal office, hires Kathleen Ffrench as VP

Private-markets investor Northleaf Capital Partners has opened a new office in Montréal. It also hired Kathleen Ffrench, who assumes the role of vice-president, sales, operating from the new location. Ffrench will help Northleaf grow its relationships with institutional investors, family offices and advisors in Eastern Ontario, Québec and Atlantic Canada. She previously served at Sun Life Institutional Investments, where she headed Eastern Canada institutional sales. Toronto-based Northleaf manages more than US$9 billion in private equity, infrastructure and private credit commitments.

Brookfield's PE group to sell up to $173 mln in Norbord shares

The private equity group of Brookfield Asset Management has launched a bought deal secondary offering to sell common shares of Norbord Inc (TSX, NYSE: OSB), a Toronto-based manufacturer of wood-based panels. The offering will sell up to $172.9 million in shares, including its greenshoe option. With its completion, Brookfield's current stake in the company, roughly 53 percent, will drop to about 48.6 percent or lower if the greenshoe option is exercised. Two years ago, Norbord was combined with Vancouver's Ainsworth Lumber Co Ltd, another Brookfield-owned company. The merger deal was valued at $762.6 million.

CPPIB to invest $400 mln in talent manager WME/IMG

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has agreed to invest US$400 million of equity in William Morris Endeavor Entertainment LLC (WME/IMG), a U.S. event organizer and talent agency. The investment, part of a US$1 billion deal also backed by Singapore's GIC, will give CPPIB an 8 percent interest in the company. Beverly Hills, California-based WME/IMG represents artists and creators in the entertainment and sports industries. It also owns and operates sports, fashion and entertainment events, such as the Miami Open, and produces sports programming, among other activities. WME/IMG's other investors include Silver Lake Partners.

Wellgreen Platinum to raise $9.5 mln in funding for Yukon project

Canadian mining company Wellgreen Platinum Ltd (TSX: WG) has agreed to raise more than $9.5 million in a private placement offering of common shares and warrants. The backers will include new investor Tocqueville Gold Fund and existing U.S. private equity investors Drake Private Investments, Electrum Group and Resource Capital Funds. The deal's proceeds will be used for the continuing development of the company's 100 percent-owned Wellgreen platinum group metal and nickel project, located in the Yukon Territory. Based in Vancouver, Wellgreen is led by President and CEO Diane Garrett.

Foreign buyout firms drive Canada private equity deals to new high: Reuters

Foreign buyout firms chasing Canadian assets helped push private equity activity to a record high in the first half of 2017, and lawyers and fund managers say the trend is likely to continue through the rest of the year, Reuters reported. Deal values jumped 55 per cent in the first half from a year ago to $14.6-billion, an all-time high, according to data released by Thomson Reuters. About 38 percent of the buyout deals targeting Canadian companies had a foreign lead investor. Meanwhile, venture capital investment in Canadian technology companies hit a 16-year high in the first half, rising 18 per cent to $2.1-billion. It was the best first half since 2001.

Clairvest earns 31 pct IRR with $275 mln sale of CRS to Ashtead

Canadian private equity firm Clairvest Group has completed its sale of CRS Contractors Rental Supply LP to Sunbelt Rentals, a North American affiliate of the United Kingdom's Ashtead Group plc. The deal, announced last month, reflected a purchase price of $275 million plus a potential earn-out. Clairvest, which invested in CRS in 2013, said it realized an internal rate of return of 31 percent over the life of the investment. Based in Kitchener, Ontario, CRS is a provider of construction equipment rentals, sales and related services.

Canadian PE activity hits $14.6 bln in H1 2017, best first half ever

Canada's buyout and related private equity market showed robust growth in the first half of 2017, with 184 deals capturing $14.6 billion in disclosed values, up 55 percent from H1 2016, according to final data released by Thomson Reuters. As a result, the domestic market saw its most active first half in dollar terms on record. Deal volumes also increased 10 percent in H1 2017, relative to a year ago. Activity was led by Vista Equity Partner’s $4.8 billion buy of DH Corp, the largest Canadian private equity deal in three years. Canadian investors were active in 65 international deals in H1 2017, up 35 percent year over year, though values for these fell 7 percent.