Private Equity
Connor, Clark & Lunn Infrastructure (CC&L Infrastructure) and Samsung Renewable Energy Inc have formed a partnership to provide equity funding to the 50 megawatt Windsor Solar Project in Windsor, Ontario. The funding's value was not disclosed. The partners also announced that about $195 million in debt financing has been raised for the project. The Windsor Solar Project will produce energy for about 8,500 Ontario homes upon its completion in late 2016 or early 2017. CC&L Infrastructure is an affiliate of Canadian asset management firm Clark & Lunn Financial Group Ltd.
4 min read · 14 December 2015
TriWest Capital Partners recently completed the debut investments of its fifth private equity fund, closed at $500 million earlier this year. They included a small Canadian service company, Prostar Energy Holdings LP, which is looking to fill a very big need: helping hard-pressed energy producers reduce costs through innovation.
3 min read · 14 December 2015
Brookfield Asset Management's private equity group has acquired additional shares in CWC Energy Services Corp (TSX-V: CWC), a Calgary-based provider of well services to oil and natural gas exploration and production companies operating in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. Brookfield bought 8.1 million of the company's common shares for $0.12 per share. As a result, it now owns approximately 70 percent of current issued and outstanding common shares. CWC was founded in 2005 and has been backed by Brookfield since 2007.
3 min read · 14 December 2015
The Fonds de solidarité FTQ has invested $3 million in Zinda Products Inc, an agri-food business that specializes in the production of regular and flavoured couscous. Founded in 1999 by President Majid Jamaleddine, Zinda has its headquarters in Candiac, Québec. The company plans to use the partnership with the Fonds to support its growth, which includes purchasing and installing a production line for pearl couscous, which Zinda is importing. The Zinda deal comes on the heels of the Fonds' investment in boat manufacturer Pelican International Inc.
3 min read · 11 December 2015
TorQuest Partners scored a 5x return on total invested capital in the sale of its interest in Array Marketing to Carlyle Group, representing a 61 percent internal rate of return, TorQuest said. Carlyle earlier this week took a majority stake for an undisclosed amount in Array, a Canadian provider of in-store merchandising systems to high-end cosmetic brands.
2 min read · 11 December 2015
Canadian wireless provider Wind Mobile Corp has closed a new senior secured debt facility that will provide for up to $425 million of financing. The facility, backed by Canadian banks, included additional support from Finnish export credit agency Finnvera. It enabled re-financing of Wind's existing debt facilities and will support its plans for network enhancement and the deployment of LTE technology. In late 2014, Wind was acquired by Globalive Capital in partnership with a group of private equity investors. The latter included West Face Capital, Tennenbaum Capital Partners, LG Capital Investors and Serruya Private Equity.
2 min read · 11 December 2015
A new study by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) found that assets managed by Canada's 10 largest public pension funds currently total more than $1.1 trillion, or the equivalent of more than 45 percent of Canada's gross domestic product. BCG said assets managed by the top 10 funds tripled between 2003 and 2014, with 80 percent of the value driven by investment returns. Approximately one-third of the investments held by the top 10 funds are in alternative assets, such as infrastructure, private equity and real estate, the study found.
5 min read · 10 December 2015
MatrixCare, a portfolio investment of OMERS Private Equity, has agreed to acquire AOD Software, a Coral Springs, Florida-based healthcare software company focused on seniors. The deal's financial terms were not released. MatrixCare, which is headquartered in Bloomington, Minnesota, is an electronic health record provider for long-term care and senior living facilities. OMERS Private Equity Managing Director Lisa Melchior said the combined companies will create "the leading scale player across multiple care settings." Earlier this year, MatrixCare's parent, Logibec Inc, a Canadian healthcare information technology business, was sold to GI Partners.
4 min read · 10 December 2015
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has invested RMB 3.2 billion (US$500 million) in Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC). The investment formed part of a US$7 billion raise by PSBC from a group of investors in advance of its initial public offering, expected next year. With the deal, which reportedly values PSBC at about US$41.5 billion, CPPIB and nine other investors, including JPMorgan, Temasek, Tencent and UBS, have taken a 17 percent interest in the bank. Founded in 2007, Beijing-based PSBC is a retail financial institution with more than 400 million customers and nearly 40,000 branches.
2 min read · 09 December 2015
Canadian private equity firm Tricor Pacific Capital has rebranded its fifth fund, Tricor Pacific Capital Partners Fund V, and its investment advisory business. The new firm, Parallel49 Equity, takes its name from Tricor's long-standing deal presence on both sides of the Canada-United States border. Parallel49 Equity, which has offices in Vancouver and Chicago, will invest $400 million in mid-market companies in specialty manufacturing, business services and value-added distribution sectors. The firm will be led by Managing Partners Brad Seaman, Scott Daum, Nick Peters and Rob Wildeman. Rod Senft and Trevor Johnstone, Tricor's founders, will sit on its investment committee.
2 min read · 08 December 2015
