Private Equity
Federal regulators have approved the sale of Capstone Infrastructure Corp (TSX: CSE), a Canadian infrastructure investment firm, to an affiliate of U.K.-based iCON Infrastructure LLP. The deal, announced in January, has an equity value of about $480 million and is expected to close by the end of this month. Based in Toronto, Capstone invests in a range of infrastructure assets, including power, utilities, transportation and public-private partnerships.
7 min read · 18 April 2016
CVC Capital Partners, Qatar's QIA and Canada's Brookfield Asset Management have abandoned a secret plan to bid for British supermarket group J.Sainsbury plc, Reuters reported, citing a story by Sky News. Sky said the trio had dropped a planned takeover, hatched in the autumn, after Sainsbury's made a 1.4 billion pound (US$2 billion) bid for Home Retail Group, the owner of Argos.
1 min read · 18 April 2016
Mister Car Wash, a portfolio company of Canadian private equity firm Penfund, has acquired seven Venture Car Washes, which has store locations across Mississippi. No financial terms were released. The deal gave Tucson, Arizona-based Mister Car Wash access to the Mississippi market and increased its operations to 172 car washes and 32 lube centers in 20 states. Penfund invested US$15.1 million of debt and equity in Mister Car Wash in 2014, not long after it was bought by Leonard Green & Partners. The company was previously owned by ONCAP.
2 min read · 18 April 2016
Three consortia of Australian and international funds have submitted bids for a 50-year lease of the Port of Melbourne, Australia's biggest shipping container terminal, sources told Reuters. The state government of Victoria aims to raise at least A$5.3 billion (US$4.1 billion) before the end of 2016, as part of a broader Australian government privatization program to help cut debt and upgrade the country's infrastructure. Canada's Borealis Infrastructure Trust is a member of one of the bidding groups, the sources said.
2 min read · 18 April 2016
Canada's second biggest public pension fund manager the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec said that Andreas Beroutsos had decided to step down as executive vice president, private equity and infrastructure, Reuters reported. The Montréal-based pension fund manager said he will stay on for a few months to ensure an orderly transition to his as yet unnamed successor and will continue to represent the Caisse on certain boards of directors.
1 min read · 15 April 2016
Ottawa-based Mitel Networks Corp said it would acquire fellow voice and telephony gear maker Polycom Inc for about US$1.96 billion in cash and stock, satisfying a demand from U.S. hedge fund Elliott Management, Reuters reported. The combined company will have its headquarters in Canada and will operate under the Mitel name while retaining the Polycom brand.
2 min read · 15 April 2016
U.S. private equity firm Industrial Opportunity Partners (IOP) has invested in the recapitalization of Moulure Alexandria Moulding Inc, a Canadian maker of wood mouldings and related millwork products for residential housing markets in North America. No financial terms were released for the deal, which is being done in partnership with Alexandria's management, including President and CEO Andre Cholette. Based in Alexandria, Ontario, the company operates a local manufacturing and distribution facility, as well as facilities elsewhere in Canada and the United States. With the deal, Dave Mackin, an IOP operating principal, will become Alexandria's chairman.
3 min read · 14 April 2016
Ontario Pension Board (OPB), which manages Ontario's Public Service Pension Plan, generated an investment return of 6.14 percent at the end of 2015. The Toronto-based pension fund manager's private-market investments, consisting of real estate, private equity and infrastructure, returned 11.1 percent. As a result of overall performance, OPB's net assets rose to $23 billion at year's end. OPB said it continued to shift assets from public to private markets in 2015, a strategy that included increasing both infrastructure and private equity portfolios by 50 per cent.
2 min read · 14 April 2016
The new head of private markets at Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) is off to a running start after being quietly hired by the system last fall. Guthrie Stewart, named PSP’s senior vice president and global head of private investments in September, was the pension fund’s point man on January’s proposed buy of AIG Advisor Group, a New York-based broker-dealer network. Stewart will likely focus on finding more such deals as PSP seeks to scale investment volumes to match up with its fast-growing asset base.
3 min read · 14 April 2016
Oil and gas producer Pacific Exploration & Production Corp said its board has agreed to negotiate a financial restructuring involving Canadian private equity firm Catalyst Capital Group Inc and its creditors, Reuters reported. Pacific Exploration, which has defaulted on certain senior notes and credit agreements, said earlier this week that it has received proposals from third parties regarding the restructuring.
2 min read · 14 April 2016
