Private Equity
Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc said it raised its offer price for Canadian paper and cellulose pulp maker Tembec Inc to $4.75 per share, valuing the deal at $475 million (US$378.6 million), excluding debt, Reuters reported. Oaktree Capital Management LP, Tembec's top shareholder which earlier opposed the deal, and another shareholder Bennett Management, agreed to vote for the revised offer, Rayonier said. Oaktree last week asked other shareholders to reject Rayonier's deal, terming it as a "flawed" sale process that undervalued Tembec. Oaktree and Bennett together own about 37 percent of the company's outstanding shares. Rayonier said in May it would buy Tembec for US$807 million, including US$487 million of debt.
2 min read · 24 July 2017
OMERS Private Equity (OPE) has agreed to sell Civica, a U.K. provider of public sector software, digital solutions and technology-based outsourcing services, for about $1.72 billion (£1.055 billion). The buyer is Partners Group, a European private equity firm. Launched in 2002, London-based Civica was acquired by OPE from 3i Group in 2013 for £390 million. OPE said it has since supported the company's organic growth and acquisition of a dozen complementary businesses. OPE, the private equity arm of Canadian pension fund OMERS, said the sale of Civica, its tenth exit globally in the past three years, will generate a multiple of 2.6x its invested capital.
5 min read · 24 July 2017
Canada's Brookfield Asset Management is in talks with Odebrecht SA to buy seven Brazilian highways operated by the conglomerate's transportation unit, sources told Reuters. Brookfield and Odebrecht signed an exclusivity agreement to negotiate the acquisition. Odebrecht has rights to operate 1,712 kilometres of seven different highways in five Brazilian states. One of the largest is the Rota das Bandeiras, in Sao Paulo, Brazil's richest state. The source gave no details of the deal's value.
1 min read · 21 July 2017
Mining giant Glencore Plc is working with a Canadian pension fund to create a standalone 50:50 joint venture for its portfolio of royalty assets, sources told Reuters. Reuters reported in May that Glencore had hired the Bank of Nova Scotia to sell its royalty assets, including one for the Antamina copper-zinc mine in Peru, which was expected to fetch up to US$250 million. It is now in talks to create a 50:50 venture for the assets with Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. A separate vehicle would help Glencore to secure supplies of copper, zinc and nickel for its trading unit. Both firms would also expand the portfolio by purchasing royalties from other miners’ operations, the sources said.
2 min read · 21 July 2017
KGK Science Inc, a contract research organization (CRO) offering human clinical trials and regulatory services to the health nutrition industry, has secured an investment from CPS Capital, a Canadian private equity firm. No financial terms were disclosed. The partnership with CPS will help the London, Ontario-based company pursue strategic growth opportunities. Founded in 1997, KGK Science is led by President and CEO Najla Guthrie. Vancouver's CPS provides growth capital to small and medium-sized businesses in Canada, the United States, and other developed markets.
2 min read · 20 July 2017
Vancouver renewable energy company Alterra Power Corp (TSX: AXY) has agreed to share ownership of the 200 megawatt Flat Top wind project with BlackRock Real Assets, an affiliate of U.S. investment manager Blackrock Inc. BlackRock Real Assets acquired a 49 percent sponsor-partner interest in the project. No financial terms were released. Alterra acquired the central Texas asset in 2016, placing a US$1.6 million security deposit with the local transmission provider. The company is undertaking construction of the project, which is expected to be in operation by the first half of 2018.
3 min read · 20 July 2017
Canadian pension plan Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System has been talking with major U.S. and Canadian private equity firms about selling land registry company Teranet in a deal that could fetch about $3 billion, sources told Reuters. Carlyle Group and KKR & Co are among several buyout firms that have held discussions with Borealis Infrastructure Management, an investment division of OMERS that owns Teranet. In 2008, Borealis acquired then-publicly listed Teranet Income Fund for about $1.5 billion. Teranet Income Fund was spun off by the Ontario government in 2003.
2 min read · 20 July 2017
Canadian private equity firm Novacap has invested in Bestar Inc, a designer, maker and distributor of ready-to-assemble home and office furniture primarily sold online in Canada and the United States. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which will support the growth strategy of the Lac-Mégantic, Québec-based company. Founded in 1948, Bestar is led by President Mario Aubé. It was previously backed by Fonds de solidarité FTQ. The new investment was made by Novacap's industries group. Last year, the group closed its fourth mid-market fund, Novacap Industries IV, at $470 million.
2 min read · 20 July 2017
Novacap has closed its fifth mid-market technology fund, securing $840 million with the help of an expanded base of limited partners. Novacap TMT V exceeded by 40 percent its original goal of $600 million, the Montréal private equity firm announced today. The fund is more than twice the size of its predecessor, which raised $380 million in 2014. Fund V is the largest raised in Novacap’s 35-year history. Its close brings assets managed by the firm to $2.25 billion.
2 min read · 20 July 2017
Canadian private equity firm Ironbridge Equity Partners has bought the assets of Armtec LP’s Ontario Standard Precast Concrete division. No financial terms were released. Ironbridge said the business, a maker of precast landscaping and structural concrete building products, will operate as Power Precast Solutions Ltd in Ottawa and Brooklin Concrete Products Corp in other locations. The investment is the eleventh made by Ironbridge Equity Partners II. Armtec, a Canadian maker of infrastructure products and engineered construction solutions, was acquired by Brookfield Asset Management's private equity group in 2015.
2 min read · 19 July 2017
