Private Equity
U.S. private equity firm Warburg Pincus has appointed Jim Prentice as an industry advisor in its energy group. In the role, Prentice will help Warburg Pincus identify and evaluate Canadian investment opportunities. Prentice joined the firm after spending nearly four decades in politics and industry. Most recently he was the 16th premier of Alberta. He also held a variety of senior federal cabinet posts between 2006 and 2010. New York-based Warburg Pincus has extensive investments in Canada's oil and gas industry. Its most recent deals include a February 2016 investment in RimRock Oil & Gas.
3 min read · 13 June 2016
Canadian energy producer Penn West Petroleum Ltd said that it would sell its Saskatchewan assets, which include holdings in the Viking region, for US$975 million to Teine Energy Ltd, which is backed by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Reuters reported. Penn West, which will also sell some of its assets in Alberta for about US$140 million, expects the deal to close in the second quarter this year. CPPIB has invested in Tiene since 2011.
1 min read · 13 June 2016
PSP Investments, one of Canada's biggest pension funds, said it had acquired a significant minority stake in French company Allflex Group, the world's biggest maker of electronic tags for animals, from private equity firm BC Partners, Reuters reported. The purchase was overseen by PSP's new team in London, led by Simon Marc, and is likely to be followed by further deals in Europe as PSP looks to increase its presence in Europe's private equity market after having opened an office in London last year.
2 min read · 13 June 2016
Canada's Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) has acquired a "significant" minority interest in Allflex Group, a European provider of animal intelligence and monitoring technologies. No financial terms were disclosed. The stake in Allflex was sold by British private equity firm BC Partners, which will remain the controlling shareholder. BC Partners acquired the company from Electra Partners for US$1.3 billion in mid-2013. Guthrie Stewart, senior vice president and global head of private investments at PSP, said the deal will increase the Montréal-based pension fund's presence in the European private equity market.
3 min read · 10 June 2016
Fortuna Silver Mines Inc (NYSE: FSM, TSX: FVI) has agreed to acquire Goldrock Mines Corp (TSX-V: GRM), a Vancouver-based gold producer focused on the development of its Lindero gold deposit in Argentina. The deal implies an equity value of about $129 million. Goldrock's major shareholders include U.S. private equity firm Orion Mine Finance and Canadian firm Waterton Global Resource Management. They and other investors holding about 26 percent of the company's outstanding shares have agreed to support the acquisition. Fortuna, which is also Vancouver-based, said the combined entity will have two operating mines and a development project in three of the top mining jurisdictions in the Americas.
10 min read · 09 June 2016
Two of Canada's largest pension funds have bought a stake in one of Mexico's biggest toll road concessions from an infrastructure company controlled by billionaire Carlos Slim, Reuters reported. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan have invested $1.35 billion for a 49 percent stake in the Arco Norte toll road, which connects the states of Mexico, Puebla, Hidalgo and Queretaro and is a link to major trade corridors. "Arco Norte represents our first infrastructure investment in Mexico and enables us to invest in an established, modern toll road of significant size," Cressida Hogg, CPPIB's global infrastructure head, said.
2 min read · 09 June 2016
Swiss commodity trader and miner Glencore has agreed to sell a 9.99 percent stake in its agricultural business to British Columbia Investment Management Corp (bcIMC) for US$624.9 million in cash, as it continues a push to sell up to US$5 billion worth of assets this year to help cut debt, Reuters reported. The deal follows the company's sale of a 40 percent stake in Glencore Agri to Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for US$2.5 billion in April, and will leave Glencore with just over a 50 percent stake in the business, with existing management to stay.
2 min read · 09 June 2016
Auld Phillips Ltd, a women's fashion retailer operating in Western Canada, has secured an undisclosed investment from Stern Partners, a Canadian private equity firm. Founded in 1965 in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Auld Phillips has a network of 56 retail stores under the brands Auld Phillips, Suzanne's, Jenny's, Suzanne's and Jenny's, and Top Shop. The deal aims at supporting the company's continued growth in Canada's specialty retail fashion market. Stern Partners' investment in Auld Phillips comes on the heels of its investment last month in Thinkingbox, a Vancouver-based creative and digital production studio.
3 min read · 08 June 2016
Canada will try to supplement planned government investment in infrastructure with funding from private investors and wants to make the projects attractive to pension funds, Reuters reported citing a statement by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trudeau's Liberals won an election in October on a promise to run three consecutive annual budget deficits of up to $10 billion to help fund investment in the country's infrastructure, and will seek to boost that expenditure with private funding.
2 min read · 08 June 2016
U.S. private equity firm Sentinel Capital Partners has closed a recapitalization deal involving The Luminaires Group (TLG), a Canadian designer, maker and distributor of specification-grade and architectural lighting fixtures in North America. No financial terms were released. Founded in 1987, Montréal-based TLG offers three branded lighting product lines: Amerillum, Cyclone and Eureka. TLG said the investment partnership with Sentinel will support the company's organic and acquisition-led growth and opportunities to enter new markets. Last October, Sentinel sold Canadian craft yarn maker Spinrite LP to TorQuest Partners.
4 min read · 08 June 2016
