Private Equity
GFL Environmental Inc has closed its previously announced acquisition of Matrec Services Inc, the solid waste unit of TransForce Inc (TSX: TFI), for $800 million. GFL said the deal creates a major Canadian environmental services company valued at about $2.4 billion, and will facilitate the company's entry into the Québec market and Eastern Ontario. The acquisition was funded in part by $458 million in equity from Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets and an investor group led by Highbridge Principal Strategies, an existing GFL backer. Funding was also provided by a US$300 million private offering of senior unsecured notes. GFL is also backed by Hawthorn Equity Partners.
4 min read · 01 February 2016
Royal Nickel Corp, capitalizing on discount asset prices as commodity markets swoon, has announced two cash and stock acquisitions that transform the mine developer into a cash-generating nickel, copper and gold producer, Reuters reported. Toronto-based Royal Nickel last year received financing from U.S. private equity firm Orion Mine Finance.
2 min read · 01 February 2016
Canadian buyout and related private equity investment showed continued strength in 2015 with 408 deals (announced and closed) capturing $21.2 billion in total disclosed values, according to final data released by Thomson Reuters. Disclosed dollar flows in Canada last year were down 29 percent from 2014, but were still the second most robust since 2007, while the number of transactions was almost unchanged on a year-over-year basis. Canadian investors were especially active in global markets in 2015, joining 137 deals valued at over $159 billion. Buyout and other private equity funds in the domestic industry raised $10.1 billion in committed capital last year, down 31 percent from 2014.
3 min read · 01 February 2016
SFX Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ: SFXE), a U.S. electronic music events producer, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company said it has also agreed to a restructuring support deal with a group of bondholders to eliminate over US$300 million in debt from its balance sheet, provide working capital, and convert most of its bondholder debt into equity as a private business. The agreement includes a commitment from the group to provide up to US$115 million in debtor-in-possession financing. Last month SFX announced it had secured a US$20 million credit facility from Canadian private equity firm Catalyst Capital Group.
6 min read · 01 February 2016
Funds affiliated with U.S. private equity firm Arias Resource Capital Management have acquired units in Largo Resources Ltd (TSX-V: LGO) in the first tranche of a new $39 million (US$26.5 million) private placement. Toronto-based Largo announced the deal earlier this month, noting the proceeds would support on-going working capital requirements at its vanadium mining project in Brazil, among other priorities. With the deal, Arias will increase its existing stake in the company to as much as 64.73 percent of total outstanding common shares. Last year, Arias agreed to provide most of a $70 million financing of Largo.
3 min read · 01 February 2016
Brookfield Asset Management has been exploring an acquisition in recent months of General Growth Properties Inc, the U.S. mall operator with a market value of US$24 billion, sources told Reuters. Brookfield, which owns about 34 percent of GGP, has approached several potential deal partners, including sovereign wealth funds, to discuss possibly taking the company private, the sources said.
2 min read · 01 February 2016
Hydro One Ltd (TSX: H) has agreed to acquire Great Lakes Power Transmission LP, a regulated electricity transmission business operating along the eastern shore of Lake Superior, near Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Hydro One agreed to pay $222 million in cash for the business to current owner Brookfield Infrastructure. It will also assume Great Lakes Transmission's $151 million in outstanding indebtedness. Hydro One said that upon the deal's close it will operate about 98 percent of Ontario's transmission capacity. An electrical transmission and distribution utility, Hydro One went public late last year, raising over $1.6 billion.
3 min read · 29 January 2016
Canadian mid-market private equity firm Callisto Capital has changed its name to Clearspring Capital Partners, effective as of the beginning of 2016. Joseph Shlesinger, managing director of Clearspring, said the new name "connotes what we are, in terms of clarity of thought, freshness of approach, Canadian focused, and a true partnership orientation." Toronto-based Clearspring is led by Shlesinger and Managing Director Lawrence Stevenson. Its portfolio companies include Logistik Unicorp, a managed uniform services provider, Medical Pharmacies Group, and Town Shoes, a branded footwear retailer. The firm was founded in 2002.
1 min read · 29 January 2016
Borealis Infrastructure has confirmed its previously announced acquisition of a stake in Compañía Logística de Hidrocarburos (CHL Group), a Spanish oil products transportation and storage business, from Cepsa. It also announced an agreement to buy the CHL stake currently owned by Global Infrastructure Partners. No financial terms were disclosed for either purchase, which will give Borealis a combined 24.15 percent interest in CHL. Borealis, the infrastructure investment arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS), said the deals mark the firm's first investment in Spain and add to its European infrastructure portfolio.
3 min read · 28 January 2016
The oil price crash of the past year and a half is forcing Canadian investment banks and corporate law firms that profited from mergers and acquisitions, and financing deals during good times to focus instead on restructuring and asset sale work, Reuters reported. The trend is reshaping the staffing makeup at these firms, with bankruptcy expertise in high demand.
2 min read · 28 January 2016
