Private Equity
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board said it will invest $570 million in LongPoint Minerals LLC, a company that invests in oil and gas mineral and royalty interests in the United States, Reuters reported. CPPIB, which is Canada's biggest public pension fund, said the investment will be deployed over two to three years and will give it a majority stake in Denver-based LongPoint. The company will acquire oil and natural gas mineral royalty interests in the lower 48 U.S. states.
1 min read · 08 June 2016
Canadian beverage producer Cott Corp (NYSE: COT, TSX: BCB) has agreed to acquire Eden Springs International, a Swiss provider of water and coffee services to workplaces in Europe. The deal reflects a purchase price of €470 million ($682 million) and is expected to close in the third quarter of this year. Eden Springs' seller is U.S. private equity firm Rhône Capital, which acquired the company in mid-2013. Toronto-based Cott said the deal is consistent with its diversification strategy to expand in home office and delivery beverage and filtration services. The acquisition will also broaden the company's European business. Cott recently bought Aquaterra Corp, a portfolio investment of Birch Hill Equity Partners.
9 min read · 08 June 2016
Calgary-based oil and gas company Wayfinder Corp has secured an undisclosed equity investment from ARC Financial Corp, a Canadian energy private equity firm. Founded in June 2015, Wayfinder is focused on servicing the oil and gas industry in Western Canada with solutions that improve productivity and bring down the cost of hydraulic fracturing treatments. It said the funds raised will support the construction and commissioning of a resin-coating plant and transload facility. ARC is investing in Wayfinder via ARC Energy Fund 8, which raised $1.5 billion last year. The firm's other recent deals include its take-private transaction with Boulder Energy Ltd, closed in April.
3 min read · 08 June 2016
Polycom Inc said it received a revised offer from an unidentified private equity firm, the third time the bidder has revised its offer since the U.S. video conferencing equipment maker agreed to be acquired by Canada's Mitel Networks Corp, Reuters reported. The revised offer values Polycom at US$1.66 billion, based on its outstanding shares as of April 21. Mitel's cash-and-stock deal was valued at US$1.96 billion. San Jose, California-based Polycom said in a filing that the new offer comprised US$650 million of equity financing and US$950 million of debt financing.
2 min read · 08 June 2016
A succession of funding deals by deep-pocketed sovereign wealth funds have thrown a life preserver to some of the world’s biggest private tech firms whose high valuations have come under scrutiny in the past year, Reuters reported. With overall funding for startups slowing down by a third to US$25.5 billion in the last two quarters, according to data from CB Insights, high-profile ventures are turning to government funds or institutional money to create "private IPOs" rather than to venture capitalists or chancing public listings. These capital injections have helped to keep valuations high as other tech ventures have been marked down by some earlier backers.
4 min read · 08 June 2016
Canadian online investment platform NexusCrowd has collaborated with Downing Street Financial on a $15.5 million 1st mortgage investment on a property in the Greater Toronto Area. NexusCrowd raised $540,000 in debt capital from investors for the mortgage, the proceeds of which will be used to consolidate existing debt and provide bridge financing for the Phase I development of a multi-phase residential condominium project. Downing Street is Toronto-based real estate investment manager and merchant bank.
3 min read · 07 June 2016
The Four Seasons Toronto, a luxury hotel in the city's downtown, is up for sale and could fetch as much as $250 million in what would be one of the most-expensive deals ever for a hotel in Canada, sources told Reuters. The hotel belongs to Kingdom Holding Co 4280.SE, an investment group owned by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. Bidders may include hotel chains, private equity firms and rich individuals, the sources said.
2 min read · 07 June 2016
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has agreed to acquire a 44 percent interest in Greenstone Ltd, an Australian designer, marketer, distributor and administrator of personal insurance products. No financial terms were disclosed. Established in 2007, Sydney-headquartered Greenstone is led by Founders Richard Enthoven and Gavin Donnelly, who will remain the company's majority shareholders. Caisse de dépôt has been active in Australia since 2012 and opened an office there last year. Its recent Australian deals include last November's investment in the 99-year lease of TransGrid, an electricity transmission network operator.
3 min read · 07 June 2016
SterlingBackcheck has acquired RISQ Group, an Australian provider of employment background check services in the Asia-Pacific region. No financial terms were disclosed. New York-based SterlingBackcheck, which operates in the same industry, said the deal builds on two prior acquisitions intended to expand its global footprint. SterlingBackcheck is a portfolio company of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Goldman Sachs. The latter jointly bought a majority interest in the company in June 2015.
3 min read · 06 June 2016
Global real estate assets overseen by fund managers had a gross value of €2 trillion ($2.9 trillion) in 2015, according to the INREV-ANREV-NCREIF Fund Manager Survey 2016. That's 10 percent more than the €1.8 trillion recorded the year before. Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management held onto its first-place ranking last year, followed by New York's The Blackstone Group. The survey, which received responses from 154 fund managers in North America, Europe and Asia, found that the top 10 investors held about 40 percent of total real estate assets under management.
4 min read · 06 June 2016
