Private Equity
Array Marketing Inc, a portfolio company of U.S. private equity firm Carlyle Group, has bought a 50 percent stake in Vulkan Retail, a Mexico City-based developer and producer of retail spaces for top brands in North America. No financial terms were released. The seller in the deal was Tavistock Group. Toronto-based Array, a provider of in-store merchandising systems to high-end cosmetic brands, said the acquisition will support the Latin American expansion plans of its clients, and enhance its own capacity in North American markets. Carlyle bought Array in December 2015 from Canadian private equity firm TorQuest Partners. TorQuest said the deal generated a 61 percent return.
2 min read · 06 September 2016
Brazil’s state-run oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA agreed to sell 90 per cent of its natural gas pipeline unit to a group of investors led by Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management for US$5.2 billion, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The investor group includes British Columbia’s pension fund and Chinese and Singaporean sovereign wealth funds CIC and GIC. The preliminary agreement will be submitted to the companies’ boards and the deal is expected to close in late September, the source said.
2 min read · 06 September 2016
Hub International Ltd has acquired New Dimensions Underwriters Ltd, a managing general agency located in Edmonton. No financial terms were disclosed. Hub, a Chicago-based insurance brokerage with a significant operational presence in Canada, is a portfolio company of U.S. private equity firm Hellman & Friedman (H&F). H&F bought the business for about US$4.4 billion in October 2013.
2 min read · 06 September 2016
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) bought a 50 percent interest in a Canadian office portfolio from real estate developer Oxford Properties Group for about $1.18 billion, Reuters reported.
1 min read · 01 September 2016
Stella-Jones, a Canadian wood products provider, has named Katherine A. Lehman to its board of directors. Lehman is managing partner at Hilltop Private Capital LLC.
2 min read · 01 September 2016
San Antonio, Texas-based managed cloud company Rackspace (NYSE: RAX) has agreed to be acquired by U.S. private equity firm Apollo Global Management. The deal, valued at US$4.3 billion, is expected to take the company private in the fourth quarter. As part of the transaction, Searchlight Capital Partners, a firm co-founded in 2010 by Erol Uzumeri, formerly the head of Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan's private equity group, made an undisclosed equity investment. Searchlight, which as offices in New York, London and Toronto, acquired Roots Canada Ltd in late 2015.
9 min read · 26 August 2016
U.S. private equity firm Guardian Capital Partners has confirmed its acquisition of Carson-Dellosa Publishing LLC, a Greensboro, North Carolina-based provider of K-8 supplemental education content for parents, teachers and students. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which was announced earlier this month by investment bank Lincoln International. The acquisition closed in July, Guardian said. The seller was Canadian private equity firm Birch Hill Equity Partners. Carson-Dellosa was previously an affiliate of Canadian entertainment and education company Cookie Jar Group.
3 min read · 26 August 2016
CDPQ Infra, the infrastructure investment arm of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, has agreed to acquire assets from Canadian National Railway Co (CN) as part of its Réseau électrique métropolitain (REM) project. The deal, the terms of which were not disclosed, will see CDPQ Infra acquire the aerial structure leading to Montréal's Central Station, along with adjacent land, infrastructure, and other assets. In April, the Caisse said it would commit $3 billion to the REM project, which will create an electrified rail network in the Greater Montréal area.
3 min read · 25 August 2016
British broadcaster ITV Plc said it would not bid for Entertainment One Ltd after failing to persuade the owner of the children's TV character Peppa Pig to enter into a formal process, Reuters reported. Canada's eOne said earlier this month it had rejected a US$1.3 billion takeover offer from Britain's biggest free-to-air commercial broadcaster, saying it undervalued the production and distribution company. Media reports have suggested that other groups, such as private equity, could be interested in Toronto-based eOne.
2 min read · 25 August 2016
The Canadian affiliate of Safway Group Holding LLC has acquired Dalco Services Inc, a Red Deer, Alberta-based provider of full-service lining, coating and abrasive blasting solutions throughout Western Canada. No financial terms were released. With the deal, Dalco will begin operating as an independent business under the Safway Group Canada umbrella. Safway Group Canada said the acquisition will provide expanded coating services to its customers. Waukesha, Wisconsin-based Safway Group, a scaffolding equipment provider, has been backed by U.S. private equity firm Odyssey Investment Partners since late 2009.
3 min read · 25 August 2016
