Private Equity
Canamax Energy Ltd (TSX-V: CAC), a portfolio company of Canadian private equity firm 32 Degrees Capital, recently completed a going-private transaction. Consistent with the terms of the previously announced deal, an investor group led by U.S. private equity firm Edge Natural Resource acquired certain issued and outstanding common shares of Canamax for about $82 million. 32 Degrees, which became a shareholder in Canamax following the latter's acquisition of Powder Mountain Energy Ltd last June, will remain invested in the company. Calgary-based Canamax is a junior oil and gas producer focused on making acquisitions of high-quality, distressed assets.
4 min read · 25 January 2016
Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners LP, an affiliate of Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management, and its institutional partners have wrapped up their buy of a 57.6 percent stake in Isagen SA. The seller in the previously announced deal, valued at US$1.99 billion, was the Colombian government. Headquartered in Medellin, Colombia, Isagen is an energy generation business.
2 min read · 25 January 2016
Newfoundland and Labrador’s public pension funds are creating a first-time allocation to alternative assets with the help of Caledon Capital Management, a Toronto-based portfolio management and advisory firm. Newfoundland and Labrador Pooled Pension Fund, which oversees $9 billion in assets, decided on a market strategy in 2013 that called for a target allocation of five percent each for private equity and infrastructure.
2 min read · 25 January 2016
Alberta Investment Management Corp (AIMCo) has sold its 50 percent interest in Autopista Central de Chile to Abertis Infraestructuras SA, a subsidiary of Abertis. Abertis paid €948 million ($1.5 billion) for Autopista Central, a 61-kilometre highway concession, giving it full control of the asset. AIMCo acquired the stake in December 2010, joining a consortium with 100 percent ownership of Autopista Central SA unit, a Santiago-based toll road services provider. Ben Hawkins, senior vice president, infrastructure and timberlands, at AIMCo, said the Edmonton-based pension fund manager is "committed to investing further in Chile given the right opportunities."
3 min read · 22 January 2016
SFX Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ: SFXE), a New York-based producer of live events and digital entertainment content, recently secured US$20 million in financing. A subsequent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said the investor is Catalyst Fund LP V, the fifth distressed-for-control fund of Canadian private equity firm Catalyst Capital Group. The funding is a credit facility that will be used by SFX for working and general corporate purposes. Founded in 2011, SFX operates a group of business brands focused on electronic music culture and festivals held around the world. Catalyst's Fund V raised $2 billion in a final close last October.
3 min read · 22 January 2016
Brookfield Property Partners joint venture began work on a US$1 billion office tower in Dubai this week as the Canadian firm bets the emirate's commercial property sector will be unaffected by the sustained slump in oil prices, Reuters reported. Brookfield is forming a 50-50 joint venture with state-owned Investment Corp of Dubai (ICD) to build a 53-storey tower in the Dubai International Finance Centre that is slated to be completed in late 2018.
2 min read · 21 January 2016
TierPoint LLC has agreed to buy Cosentry Inc, a provider of cloud, colocation and managed services based in Omaha, Nebraska. No financial terms were released. The seller in the deal is U.S. private equity firm TA Associates, which bought Cosentry in 2011. Upon the acquisition's close, TA Associates will become a "significant investor" in TierPoint, joining the company's existing backers, including Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. Ontario Teachers became an investor in late 2014, when it supported St. Louis, Missouri-based TierPoint's acquisition of Xand.
3 min read · 21 January 2016
CPI Card Group Inc (Nasdaq: PMTS, TSX: PNT) has appointed Doug Pearce to its board of directors. Pearce was the founding CEO and CIO of the British Columbia Investment Management Corp (bcIMC). He led bcIMC for more than two decades, retiring in June 2014. Based in Littleton, Colorado, CPI is a provider of payment card products and related services. A portfolio company of Tricor Pacific Capital since 2007, it raised US$137.5 million in an initial public offering on U.S. and Canadian exchanges last October. In late 2015, Tricor rebranded its fifth fund, creating Parallel49 Equity.
3 min read · 21 January 2016
U.S. activist hedge fund Livermore Partners is calling on Canadian and U.K. media firm Entertainment One to slow down its pace of deal-making and improve its cash flow, Reuters reported. Entertainment One's biggest investor is Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which acquired a stake in the Toronto-based company from Marwyn Investment Management in 2015.
2 min read · 20 January 2016
Capstone Infrastructure Corp (TSX: CSE), a Canadian infrastructure investment firm, has agreed to be acquired by an affiliate of iCON Infrastructure LLP. The deal has an equity value of about $480 million and is expected to close in April. Based in Toronto, Capstone invests in a range of infrastructure assets, including power, utilities, transportation and public-private partnerships. Its portfolio comprises 25 investments in Canada and Europe. The decision to sell the business to iCON followed a strategic review by the firm late last year. London, U.K.-based iCON, an investor in privately-held infrastructure assets, closed its third fund at €800 million ($1.1 billion) in April 2015.
10 min read · 20 January 2016
