Private Equity
Source Energy Services, a Calgary-based specialist in proppant sourcing and oilfield logistics, is weighing an initial public offering, a Bloomberg report said. A public sale could value the company for as much as $1 billion, the report said. Source Energy is a portfolio company of Canadian private equity firm TriWest Capital Partners. TriWest made an undisclosed investment in the business in late 2013.
1 min read · 09 February 2017
Canada’s pension funds are among the world’s biggest investors in private equity, according to a new report. Preqin’s The Private Equity Top 100, issued today, found that three of the 10 largest PE limited partners are Canadian. Sitting atop the list is Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. CPPIB, which invests on behalf of Canada’s public retirement system, earned the ranking with a current PE asset allocation of about US$44 billion, Preqin said. That’s just ahead of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign-wealth fund, which oversees a pool of about US$40 billion.
2 min read · 08 February 2017
Toronto Stock Exchange owner TMX Group Ltd said it was pitching the energy-rich bourse to "Saudi officials of significant influence" to bring at least part of the kingdom's massive Saudi Aramco public listing to Canada, Reuters reported. Saudi Arabia expects to value the state-owned oil producer at a minimum of US$2 trillion, in what could be the world's biggest initial public offering. Canada's biggest pension funds, such as the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, could be among potential investors in the IPO. However, they would only participate if convinced of the long-term investment case, pension experts say.
3 min read · 08 February 2017
Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd said it expects to raise about US$500 million in equity for Fairfax Africa Holdings Corp, a new vehicle that will invest public equity, private equity and debt in African businesses. Commitments to Fairfax Africa will come from an initial public offering of subordinate voting shares, a related offering, and cornerstone investors subscribing through a US$144 million private placement. Toronto-based Fairfax, a financial holding company led by Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa, set up a comparable Indian fund in 2014.
3 min read · 08 February 2017
U.S. payment services company BluePay Processing Inc has acquired the merchant portfolio of VersaPay Corp (TSX-V: VPY), a Canadian cloud-based invoice presentment and payment provider. The deal, announced in November, reflects closing and post-closing payments of $11 million. Toronto's VersaPay said the deal will allow the company to focus on its core accounts receivable solution, while Naperville, Illinois-based BluePay said it will improve its overall market position. BluePay has been backed by U.S. technology private equity firm TA Associates since 2013.
3 min read · 08 February 2017
Kew Media Group, a Canadian special purpose acquisition corporation (SPAC), has agreed to acquire Frantic Films Corp, a branded content and live-action production company based in Winnipeg. The deal formed part of Kew's proposed qualifying acquisition, which reflects agreements to buy six content companies for an upfront purchase price of about $104.1 million. The SPAC said the companies will create a global media platform. Frantic is a portfolio investment of PRIVEQ Capital Funds, a Canadian mid-market private equity firm. PRIVEQ invested in the business in 2007.
8 min read · 08 February 2017
Vancouver mining company Hudson Resources Inc has entered into agreements to receive about $30 million in debt financing from the European Investment Bank and Cordiant Capital, a Canadian emerging markets investor. The proceeds of the deal will be used for development of the company's White Mountain anorthosite project in Greenland. Hudson Resources owns 100 percent of the project, which aims to establish a mine to supply feed materials to the fiberglass industry.
2 min read · 07 February 2017
Innova Global Ltd has bought intellectual property (IP) assets of Express Integrated Technologies (EIT), a U.S. designer and maker of heat transfer and combustion engineering equipment for the power and process markets. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which resulted from Innova's bid in a bankruptcy court auction last month. Innova, a Calgary-based specialist in emissions and noise control, said the acquisition will expand its product portfolio. Innova was acquired by Canadian private equity firm TriWest Capital Partners in 2015. Tulsa, Oklahoma's EIT was acquired by U.S. private equity firm Sterling Group in 2010.
3 min read · 07 February 2017
Courts in the United States and Canada have approved the sale of Performance Sports Group Ltd (PSG), a U.S. maker of sports equipment and apparel, to Sagard Capital Partners and Fairfax Financial Holdings. The deal, which includes "substantially all" of the company's assets and North American subsidiaries, is valued at US$575 million. It is expected to close before the end of February. Last month, PSG said it would seek court approval for the "stalking horse" asset-purchase agreement led by Power Corp's Sagard after new bids from private equity firms failed to materialize.
4 min read · 07 February 2017
Knoxville, Tennessee physician services organization Team Health Holdings Inc has closed its take-private acquisition deal with U.S. private equity firm Blackstone Group. Announced last October at a value of about US$6.1 billion, the deal included investments by Canadian pension funds Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments). Established in 1979, Team Health provides outsourcing services, including emergency medicine, anesthesiology and ambulatory care, to hospitals and physician groups in the United States.
5 min read · 06 February 2017
