Private Equity
Cadillac Fairview Corp Ltd has invested $77 million in CF Masonville Place, a shopping mall located in London, Ontario. The investment will support the largest effort to modernize the complex since it opened in 1985. Based in Toronto, Cadillac Fairview is the real estate investment arm of Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan.
4 min read · 31 March 2016
U.S. hedge fund Wynnefield Capital said it is opposed to the sale of Checkpoint Systems Inc (NYSE: CKP), a U.S. provider of merchandise availability solutions for the retail industry, to Canada's CCL Industries Inc. Wynnefield, which holds a 2.1 percent interest in Checkpoint, said the latter's board has "accepted a take-under buyout based on a discounted EBITDA multiple and at a price that is 25 percent below where the stock traded just one year ago." CCL, a specialty packaging business, agreed earlier this month to acquire Checkpoint for $556 million. North Star Partners, which holds a 3.9 percent interest in Checkpoint, also opposes the deal.
3 min read · 30 March 2016
Enercare Inc (TSX: ECI) has closed a public offering of subscription receipts to help fund its buy of Service Experts, a U.S. heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) services and repairs provider. Enercare raised gross proceeds of about $239.8 million for the previously-announced deal, which will see the Toronto-based company acquire Service Experts for US$340.75 million. Based in Dallas, Texas, Service Experts, a.k.a. SEHAC Holdings Corp, has been backed by U.S. private equity firm American Capital since 2013.
4 min read · 30 March 2016
The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, one of the world's biggest infrastructure investors, achieved a 13 percent rate of return on its investments in 2015, Reuters reported. The performance last year by Canada's third-largest public pension plan compared with an 11.8 percent rate of return in 2014. The fund's net assets grew to a record $171.4 billion at the end of 2015 from $154.5 billion a year earlier.
1 min read · 30 March 2016
An affiliate of Catalina Holdings (Bermuda) Ltd has agreed to acquire AGF Insurance Ltd, a British regulated insurance business, from European financial services provider Allianz SE. No financial terms were released for the deal, which is expected to close in the third quarter. Catalina, a buyer and manager of non-life insurance and reinsurance companies and portfolios in run-off, said the deal is its first significant acquisition of U.K. employers liability legacy risk. Based in Hamilton, Bermuda, Catalina is a portfolio investment of Apollo Global Management, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP).
3 min read · 30 March 2016
CPPIB Credit Investments, the private debt platform of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), has provided 480 million euros ($707 million) to support the acquisition of LeasePlan Corp NV, a Dutch fleet management and driver mobility company. The acquisition, closed earlier this month, saw a consortium of investors, including Dutch pension fund service provider PGGM, Danish pension fund ATP, GIC, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Goldman Sachs and TDR Capital, buy LeasePlan from Global Mobility Holding for 3.7 billion euros. Global Mobility Holding is a joint venture of Volkswagen and banker Friedrich von Metzler.
3 min read · 30 March 2016
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) has appointed Alonso García-Tamés as managing director of its subsidiary in Mexico, CDPQ México, and head of Latin America. Operating from Mexico City, García-Tamés will play a key role in developing and managing the Caisse's investments in Mexico, as well as in the Latin American region. As part of these duties, he will help develop the co-investment platform for Mexico infrastructure projects launched last September by the Caisse in partnership with Mexican institutional investors. Prior to joining CDPQ México, García-Tamés was a senior executive at Citi and Banamex.
3 min read · 29 March 2016
Australia’s Qube Holdings Ltd and Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management are raising a US$753 million loan to help pay for the ports business of Asciano Ltd, in a carve-up of Australia’s largest ports and rail operator, sources told Reuters. Five banks – Australia & New Zealand Banking Group, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Citigroup, National Australia Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp – are providing financing on a club basis, the sources said. Qube and Brookfield unveiled a US$6.8 billion plan earlier this month to split up the ports and rail giant into two units.
2 min read · 29 March 2016
Louisiana electricity supplier Cleco Corp announced it has got approval from the state's public service commission to sell itself to an investor group led by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets, Reuters reported. The deal, announced on October 20, 2014, valued Cleco at US$4.7 billion, or US$55.37 per share. The investor group includes British Columbia Investment Management Corp (bcIMC) and John Hancock Financial, a division of Canadian insurance company and financial services provider Manulife Financial Corp. The deal is expected to close in April.
1 min read · 29 March 2016
Airport operator GVK Power & Infrastructure Ltd has sold a 33 percent stake in Mumbai, India's Bengaluru airport to Canada's Fairfax Financial Holdings to reduce debt, Reuters reported. Fairfax will pay 21.49 billion rupees (US$322.75 million) for the stake. Fairfax India, a vehicle launched in 2014 to boost the firm's private equity, public equity and debt investments in the country, participated in the deal.
1 min read · 28 March 2016
