Private Equity
Gibraltar Growth Corp (TSX: GBG.A-WT), a Canadian special purpose acquisition corporation, has agreed to buy LXR Produits de Luxe International Inc, a Montréal-based retailer of branded vintage luxury handbags and accessories. The deal, which is Gibraltar's qualifying acquisition, reflects a purchase price of $82.5 million. As a result of the acquisition, expected to close in June, LXR will become a publicly-listed company led by its founders, Fred Mannella and Kei Izawa. Gibraltar, an affiliate of Gibraltar & Co Inc, raised $100 million in an initial public offering in 2015. It said the LXR deal is fully funded and supported by more than half of its shareholders.
10 min read · 17 April 2017
The Active Network, a portfolio company of U.S. private equity firm Vista Equity Partners, has acquired TeamPages Inc, a Canadian provider of website software solutions for sports leagues, clubs, schools and teams. No financial terms were disclosed. Dallas-based Active said the deal enhances its role as a one-stop shop of software products for athletic organizations. Founded in 2006, Vancouver's TeamPages received venture capital funding from Canadian angel fund W Media Ventures, Germany's Acton Capital Partners and other investors. Active was taken private by Vista in 2013.
3 min read · 17 April 2017
U.S. private equity firm Blackstone Group and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) have agreed to acquire Ascend Learning LLC, a Burlington, Massachusetts provider of educational content, software and analytics solutions. No financial terms were disclosed; however, Reuters earlier reported the deal is valued at more than US$2 billion, including debt. The sellers are Providence Equity Partners and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP). Providence, a U.S. private equity firm and Ascend's current majority owner, formed the business in 2010 by merging several companies it had previously acquired.
5 min read · 16 April 2017
Mood Media Corp (TSX: MM) has agreed to be acquired by a group of stakeholders, including Apollo Global Management and Blackstone Group's GSO Capital Partners. The deal will see all of the Mood's common shares acquired for $0.17 per share. The company’s US$350 million in senior unsecured notes will also be exchanged for consideration, per US$1,000 principal amount, and its US$250 million credit facility will be refinanced with a new US$315 million facility provided by HPS Investment Partners. The deal will also see Mood, formerly known as Fluid Music Canada Inc, to de-list and re-domicile from Canada to Delaware. Mood is an in-store music, visual and scent media specialist.
10 min read · 13 April 2017
Novacap set a $600 million target for its fifth mid-market technology fund, which would be the largest in the private equity firm’s 35-year history. The Montréal investor began fundraising for Novacap TMT V in January, President and Managing Partner Pascal Tremblay told PE Hub Canada. He says he’s feeling “very confident” about meeting the fund’s goal later this year. Closing on $600 million would give Fund V about 58 percent more in committed capital than its predecessor, which raised $380 million in 2014.
3 min read · 13 April 2017
Canada's Capital Power Corp (TSX: CPX) has agreed to acquire Decatur Power Holdings LLC, which owns the Decatur Energy Center, a 795 megawatt natural gas-fired combined cycle power generation plant located in Decatur, Alabama. Capital Power agreed to pay US$441 million, subject to working capital and adjustments, to an affiliate of LS Power Equity Partners, a U.S. private equity firm focused on the power industry. Capital Power, an Edmonton-based power generation business, said the acquisition, expected to close in June, represents a significant step in its growth strategy.
8 min read · 13 April 2017
Canadian software and services company Enghouse Systems Ltd (TSX: ENGH) has acquired Tollgrade Communications Inc, a U.S. provider of centralized, software-based test systems for broadband telecom access businesses. Markham, Ontario's Enghouse paid about $23 million for the company, subject to price adjustments. It said the acquisition adds to Enghouse Networks' OSS service assurance portfolio and will enlarge its customer base. Based in Cranberry, Pennsylvania, Tollgrade was backed by U.S. private equity firm Golden Gate Capital, which acquired it in 2011.
3 min read · 13 April 2017
Canadian private-markets investor Northleaf Capital Partners has hired James Fung as chief technology officer. Working from the firm's Toronto headquarters, Fung will lead its business technology strategy. Prior to joining Northleaf this year, he was an executive at Accenture Strategy. Northleaf, which has an 85-person team, manages more than US$9 billion in private equity, infrastructure and private credit commitments.
2 min read · 12 April 2017
OEL Projects Ltd, a Calgary provider of engineering, procurement, construction and management services to the oil and gas industry, earlier this month combined with McIntosh Perry Consulting Engineers Ltd. The deal's financial terms were not released. McIntosh Perry said the merger is the next step in the company's plan to become "the premiere diversified engineering firm in Canada." Ottawa-based McIntosh Perry, which combined with CCI Group Inc last October, is a portfolio investment of Canadian private equity firm Signal Hill Equity Partners.
3 min read · 12 April 2017
Private equity firm Waterous Energy Fund is seeking investment opportunities in the Canadian oil and gas sector as valuations turn attractive after a prolonged slump in the oil price, making a contrarian bet as global players pull back, Reuters reported. Calgary-based Waterous Energy, which invests $100 million to $400 million per deal in energy assets, is targeting companies in Canada and the United States, and is finding Canada particularly appealing, said Adam Waterous, head of Waterous Energy and a former top investment banker at Bank of Nova Scotia. This week, Waterous Energy agreed to pay about $244 million for a 67 percent stake in Canadian energy company Northern Blizzard Resources Inc.
2 min read · 12 April 2017
