Private Equity
Toronto luxury outdoor apparel maker Canada Goose Holdings Inc (NYSE/TSX: GOOS) has priced its previously announced secondary offering of subordinate voting shares at US$20.75 per unit. At this price the offering, which is being made by certain investors in the company, including U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital, will generate as much as US$298.3 million in proceeds. Bain, which acquired Canada Goose in 2013, will continue to hold a controlling interest following the sale, the prospectus said. Canada Goose raised $390 million from its initial pubic offering earlier this year.
3 min read · 28 June 2017
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), the country's biggest public pension fund, plans to invest up to US$1 billion to buy oil and gas assets in the United States in a partnership with Encino Energy Ltd, Reuters reported. CPPIB said the partnership, Encino Acquisition Partners, would seek non-core assets being sold by global energy majors and would focus on basins already producing oil and gas. It is looking to buy assets being sold by large energy companies as they spend money on developing red-hot U.S. shale basins like the Permian and the so-called SCOOP and STACK plays in Oklahoma. CPPIB already holds close to $4.5 billion of assets in the energy sector, 80 percent of which are in Western Canada.
2 min read · 28 June 2017
Canadian specialty finance firm Crown Capital Partners has provided a $25 million term loan to Ferus Inc, a Calgary supplier of energized fluids (liquid nitrogen and liquid carbon dioxide) and related logistical and operational services to the oil and gas industry. Founded in 2002, Ferus operates six production plants and maintains a logistics fleet as well as wellsite storage units to facilitate delivery of fracturing inputs. The company will use the funds raised to repay an existing senior credit facility and support growth. Earlier in 2017, Crown provided $30 million in funding to Marquee Energy Ltd and $15 million to Solo Liquor Holdings Ltd.
3 min read · 28 June 2017
Canadian alternative equity firm Alaris Royalty Corp has invested US$20 million in Accscient LLC, an Atlanta, Georgia-based provider of information technology staffing, consulting and outsourcing services. The deal gives Alaris an annualized distribution of US$3 million and will allow Accscient to pay down debt and access working capital. Alaris also said it received $9.8 million in proceeds from KMH LP, a Toronto-based healthcare services provider, following the sale of most of the company's Canadian clinics to a third party. A negotiated deal will allow Alaris to conclude the partnership and collect amounts outstanding.
6 min read · 28 June 2017
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has partnered with Encino Energy LLC to form Encino Acquisition Partners (EAP), a platform for making acquisitions of oil and gas assets in the United States. The Canadian pension fund has committed up to US$1 billion to the platform, while Houston-based Encino has committed US$25 million. The latter will originate, evaluate and execute deal opportunities, as well as manage the assets owned by EAP. It will target large, high-quality assets with an established base of production in mature U.S. basins.
3 min read · 28 June 2017
USI Insurance Services has agreed to acquire the commercial insurance business of Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE: WFC). No financial terms were released for the deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Valhalla, New York-based USI said the acquisition will create a comprehensive suite of property and casualty, employee benefit, personal risk and retirement solutions. USI was earlier this year sold by Canadian private equity firm Onex Corp to U.S. private equity firm KKR & Co and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) for US$4.3 billion. CDPQ and PSP Investments helped finance the Wells Fargo transaction.
3 min read · 27 June 2017
The field of prospective bidders for Japanese conglomerate Toshiba Corp's Swiss-based smart meter group Landis+Gyr has narrowed to two, banking sources told Reuters. The two, Goldman Sachs Group's private equity arm and Canada's Onex Corp, are undertaking due diligence checks, the sources said. A consortium of CVC Capital Partners and Hitachi Ltd had withdrawn its offer, as had Honeywell International Inc. Toshiba bought Landis+Gyr in 2011 for US$2.3 billion jointly with state-backed Innovation Network Corp of Japan, which holds 40 percent in the company.
2 min read · 27 June 2017
InstarAGF Asset Management has closed its flagship infrastructure fund, InstarAGF Essential Infrastructure Fund, raising $740 million in committed capital. The fund, backed by institutional and high-net-worth investors in Canada, the United States and Europe, will invest in mid-market infrastructure deals across North America. It has already deployed about 30 percent of the funds raised to three opportunities, including the 2015 buy of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport and last year's investment in Steel Reef Infrastructure Corp. Toronto-based InstarAGF, a joint venture between Instar Group Inc and AGF Management Ltd, is led by President and CEO Gregory Smith.
4 min read · 27 June 2017
New York-based hedge fund Paulson & Co has declared a 6.3 percent stake in Canada's Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc, Reuters reported. Paulson, Valeant's biggest stakeholder, had a 5.68 percent stake in the company as of March 31, according to Thomson Reuters data. Last week, billionaire investor John Paulson joined the ailing drug company's board as it restructures to repay debt.
1 min read · 26 June 2017
Canadian private equity firm Mosaic Capital Corp has appointed Monty Balderston as CFO, replacing Allan Fowler, who resigned to pursue other opportunities. Balderston brings to the role some 20 years of experience in senior finance and accounting, including as CFO at Peak Energy Services Ltd and Northern Frontier Corp. Based in Calgary, Mosaic invests in mid-market companies located primarily in Western Canada. Late last year, it secured a $150 million investment from Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd.
2 min read · 26 June 2017
