Private Equity
IAM Private Debt Group has provided an undisclosed senior term loan to SaltWire Network Inc, a Halifax media company and publisher of newspapers. The funds raised will support the company's working capital needs and recent acquisition of Transcontinental Inc's portfolio of newspapers and web-related products in Atlantic Canada. IAM Private Debt Group is a division of Integrated Asset Management Corp (TSX: IAM), a Toronto alternative investments manager.
2 min read · 25 April 2017
Canadian precious metals producer Montan Mining Corp (TSX-V: MNY) has agreed to receive a funding package of up to US$10 million from the royalty financing affiliate of Cartesian Capital Group, a U.S. private equity firm. Vancouver-based Montan, which is focused on monetizing gold mining assets in Peru, said the funds raised will be used to support its recent buy of Kairos Capital Peru SAC and M&S Transportes y Servicios Generales SRL from Pacific Alliance Capital Group Ltd. It will also give priority to bringing the company's Cerro Dorado processing plant into production and increase its capacity.
5 min read · 25 April 2017
GSC Technologies, a Montréal-based producer of kayaks and watersports equipment that was recapitalized by U.S. private equity firm New Water Capital Partners earlier this month, has been combined with KL Outdoor. No financial terms were disclosed. Muskegon, Michigan-based KL Outdoor, which also manufactures kayaks, has been backed by New Water since December. The merger "will create the largest kayak company in the world," New Water Partner Mark Becker said. The businesses will immediately begin offering their combined product portfolios and manufacturing capacity to customers.
3 min read · 25 April 2017
Nord Anglia Education Inc, a Hong Kong-based operator of international schools, said it would be taken private by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Baring Private Equity Asia in a deal that values the company at US$4.3 billion, including debt, Reuters reported. Baring has a 67 percent stake in Nord Anglia, which operates 43 schools in 15 countries. The deal includes a so-called go-shop period, during which Nord Anglia can evaluate proposals from other buyers for 30 days.
1 min read · 25 April 2017
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has created a $125 million fund to invest in Québec's agri-food industry. The fund, Fonds agroalimentaire CDPQ, will invest directly and via fund partners across the industry's value chain, including agricultural production, food processing, and food distribution and marketing. It will also target key production areas, such as maple syrup, pork, veal, milk, dairy products, grain, and fruit and vegetables. Opportunities of interest will include existing owners of family farms, young farmers and entrepreneurs, technological transitions, and growth strategies focused on regional and global markets.
4 min read · 24 April 2017
U.S. hedge fund Elliott Capital Advisors disclosed on Monday it has taken a 6.8 percent stake in WS Atkins after the British engineering and construction consultancy business agreed to be bought in a $3.6 billion deal, Reuters reported. Elliott said in a regulatory filing that it had acquired the stake in a contracts-for-difference deal on April 21, the day after Atkins agreed to its acquisition by Canadian construction and engineering group SNC Lavalin. Elliott's stake in Atkins makes it the second-biggest shareholder, Thomson Reuters data showed, just behind asset manager Columbia Threadneedle Investments.
2 min read · 24 April 2017
Chorus Aviation Capital has agreed to acquire six ATR 72-600 aircraft with attached leases from Singapore's Avation PLC. No financial terms were released for the proposed acquisition, which consists of three aircraft on lease to British carrier Flybe and three to Virgin Australia Airlines. Chorus Aviation Capital, a regional aircraft leasing subsidiary of Halifax-based Chorus Aviation Inc (TSX: CHR), was launched in December. The launch was backed with a $200 million investment by Canadian holding company Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd.
2 min read · 24 April 2017
IAM Private Debt Group has provided an undisclosed senior term loan to JMB Crushing Systems ULC, a Bonnyville, Alberta-based producer and distributor of gravel, sand, rocks and other materials to industrial projects, oilfield developments and road construction. The funds raised will be used by the company to refinance debt and fund continued growth across Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. JMB has been backed by U.S. private equity firm Westward Partners since 2011. IAM Private Debt Group is a division of Toronto-based Integrated Asset Management Corp (TSX: IAM).
2 min read · 24 April 2017
European engineering groups ABB Ltd and Schneider Electric SE are competing for General Electric Co's industrial solutions division, which could fetch as much as US$3 billion, sources told Reuters. ABB and Schneider Electric are through to the second round of bidding for the GE unit, a provider of primarily electrical equipment. Private equity firms, including KKR & Co LP, Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC, Warburg Pincus LLC and Canada's Onex Corp, are also in the running, according to the sources.
2 min read · 24 April 2017
Canadian private equity firm Lynx Equity this month acquired Label Express Ltd, a Croydon, U.K.-based provider of express labelling services to a variety of niche industries. No financial terms were disclosed. The investment is Lynx's second to date in Europe. Its first, Signalhome Ltd, a London-based provider of storage for bathroom and kitchen developers, was bought earlier this year. Lynx is focused on acquiring small businesses from owners looking to retire. In 2016, PE Hub Canada profiled Brad Nathan, the Toronto investor's founder and president.
2 min read · 24 April 2017
