Private Equity
The Fonds de solidarité FTQ has invested $5 million in Les Serres Lefort Inc, a Ste-Clotilde, Québec-based producer of organic vegetables sold across North America. Founded in 1984 by President Sylvain Lefort, Serres Lefort grows and markets greenhouse vegetables under its VÔG brand. It also accounts for about 65 percent of Québec vegetable transplants for outdoor farmers. The company plans to use the funds provided by the Fonds to help build additional greenhouse capacity. The Fonds said Serres Lefort will by the end of the year be Québec’s largest greenhouse producer on a single site.
3 min read · 11 March 2016
Distinct Infrastructure Group Inc (TSX-V: DUG) has acquired Mega Diesel Excavating Ltd, a provider of hydro vac, vacuum truck and excavating services in the Edmonton region. No financial terms were released. Distinct Infrastructure, a Toronto-based utility and telecom infrastructure contractor, said the deal supports it strategy to expand operations and the company's presence in Western Canada. The acquisition is the first completed by Distinct Infrastructure since it received $20 million in subordinated debt funding from Canadian specialty finance firm Crown Capital Partners last November. The funding is also intended to support growth plans focused on Ontario.
4 min read · 11 March 2016
D. E. Shaw Renewable Investments (DESRI) has agreed to a strategic financing partnership with Alberta Investment Management Corp (AIMCo). Under the partnership, AIMCo will provide up to US$500 million to support the acquisition of long-term contracted renewable energy assets by DESRI. DESRI, an affiliate of New York-based investment and technology development firm D. E. Shaw Group, has a portfolio of North American projects with about 1,000 megawatts of capacity. Edmonton-based AIMCo manages $90 billion of pension plan and other fund assets.
3 min read · 10 March 2016
Canadian mining company Wellgreen Platinum Ltd (TSX: WG) has launched a $12.1 million private placement. In connection to the deal, the company has agreed to receive a $10 million equity investment from Electrum Strategic Opportunities Fund, a private equity fund managed by U.S. investment firm Electrum Group. As a result of the deal, Electrum will own a 26.9 percent equity interest in Wellgreen, or a 40.6 percent interest if all related warrants are exercised, and have the right to nominate two individuals to the board of directors. Vancouver-based Wellgreen, which has also been backed by Resource Capital Funds, said it will use the new funds to further develop its Yukon nickel project.
7 min read · 10 March 2016
Embattled Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc has added a representative from investor Pershing Square Capital Management to its board of directors, Reuters report. Pershing Square, a U.S. hedge fund run by activist investor Bill Ackman, bought a stake in Valeant last year when the drug-maker's shares were on the rise. They have fallen 68 percent since.
2 min read · 09 March 2016
Minority shareholders in Corus Entertainment Inc have voted in favour of the media company's planned $2.65 billion purchase of Shaw Media from its sister company Shaw Communications Inc, Reuters reported. Catalyst Capital Group had sought to scuttle the vote, saying it unfairly benefited the Shaw family that controls both companies to the detriment of minority shareholders.
2 min read · 09 March 2016
Swiss private equity firm Partners Group has agreed to buy all of the outstanding common shares of Axia NetMedia Corp (TSX: AXX), a Canadian operator and seller of services over fibre optic infrastructure. Partners Group has agreed to pay $4.25 per share for the company, which reflects a total equity value of $272 million. The board of directors of Calgary-based Axia has recommended the offer to shareholders, who will vote on it at a special meeting expected to be held in May. With the acquisition's close, Partners Group said it will work with Axia's existing management on "an ambitious growth plan" and provide the capital needed to help it "become a world-class communication network operator."
9 min read · 09 March 2016
Canada's second biggest pension fund the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec said it will open its first Indian office in New Delhi to scout for investments in South Asia, Reuters reported. The Caisse also announced the appointment of Anita Marangoly George as managing director for South Asia. Based in New Delhi, George will head up the new CDPQ India unit to seek investment opportunities across all asset classes.
1 min read · 09 March 2016
France's Airbus Group has completed its acquisition of 100 percent of the shares of Navtech Inc, a Waterloo, Ontario-based provider of flight operations solutions. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which was announced in December. Mike Hulley, Navtech's current CEO, will continue to lead the business, Airbus said. Navtech, whose origins stretch back to the 1980s, has been backed by U.S. private equity firm ABRY Partners since 2005, the year the company bought European Aeronautical Group. It also received an investment from Veronis Suhler Stevenson in 2013.
3 min read · 09 March 2016
Canadian alternative equity firm Alaris Royalty Corp has invested US$22 million in preferred units of Sandbox Group LLC, a marketing and advertising services specialist based in Chicago. Founded in 2013, Sandbox assists clients in a range of North American industries with strategic marketing and planning, as well as creative development involving all media and digital solutions. The company plans to use the partnership with Alaris to invest in services, expand into new markets, and make acquisitions of regional communications businesses. In exchange for the investment, Sandbox will provide an annual distribution of US$3.3 million to Calgary-based Alaris.
7 min read · 08 March 2016
