Private Equity
Aero 3 Inc, a portfolio company of U.S. private equity firm Weinberg Capital Group, has bought the Wheel & Brake Division (W&B) of Avianor Inc, an aerospace and rail equipment specialist based in Montréal. No financial terms were released. Avianor W&B is a wheel and brake maintenance facility with capacity to overhaul over 10,000 units per year. Aero 3, a U.S.-based holding company formed in 2012 to acquire AeroRepair Corp and Hemico Inc, will rename the acquired business AeroRepair Canada. Weinberg said the deal will enhance Aero 3's capabilities and geographic reach.
3 min read · 13 October 2015
Canadian royalty financing firm Grenville Strategic Royalty Corp has entered into a buyout deal with INOVx Inc, an Irvine, Calif.-based asset visualization software company that serves industrial process customers. The transaction, which forms part of a broader restructuring underway at INOVx, will facilitate the exit of Grenville from the company. Grenville will receive US$1.75 million for the buyout, which adds to US$400,000 in royalty payments to date. The firm invested in INOVx in July 2014.
6 min read · 09 October 2015
Excelsior Mining Corp (TSX-V: MIN) has agreed to buy all of the assets of Nord Resources Corp as they relate to the Johnson Camp Copper Mine, which is adjacent to Excelsior's Gunnison Copper Project in southeastern Arizona. The deal, expected to wrap up in November, has a total consideration of US$8.4 million. Excelsior, a Vancouver-based mineral exploration and development company, said it will also receive US$12 million in financing from its existing backer Greenstone Resources, a British private equity firm. The funding consists of a private placement and the sale of 2 percent of gross revenue royalty on the company's Gunnison project.
10 min read · 09 October 2015
Canadian mid-market private equity firm TorQuest Partners has bought Spinrite LP, a Listowel, Ontario-based manufacturer and distributor of consumer craft yarn in North America. No financial terms were released. The seller in the deal was Sentinel Capital Partners, a U.S. private equity firm that acquired Spinrite in 2004 and re-acquired it in a take-private deal in 2007. Established in 1952, Spinrite markets about 4,000 stock keeping units across more than 100 product families and possesses a diversified craft yarn manufacturing operation. It is the fifth platform investment of TorQuest Partners Fund III, which raised $535 million in 2013. Last month, TorQuest agreed to sell specialty chemicals maker Pinova Holdings Inc to Symrise AG.
3 min read · 09 October 2015
U.K.-based private equity firm Change Capital Partners has agreed to sell its investment stake in Macduff Shellfish Group to Clearwater Seafoods, a Canadian vertically integrated seafood company. The transaction values Macduff at about £98.4 million ($196.2 million). Based in Mintlaw, Scotland, Macduff is a wild shellfish processor with a strong market presence in Europe. Change Capital invested in the business in 2011. KPMG and Burness Paull have advised Change Capital on the sale, which is expected to close at the end of October.
4 min read · 09 October 2015
Activist hedge fund Elliott Management Corp disclosed stakes in U.S. video-conferencing equipment maker Polycom Inc and Canadian telecommunications provider Mitel Networks Corp and pushed for a combination of the two, Reuters reported. The hedge fund disclosed a 9.6 percent stake in Mitel, which has a current market value of about $1.1 billion.
2 min read · 08 October 2015
Medical technology company Acelity Holdings Inc expects to raise up to US$1 billion in its IPO, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Reuters reported. U.S.-based Acelity, which filed for an initial public offering in August, is a portfolio company of private equity firm Apax Partners, pension fund manager PSP Investments and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. The company develops regenerative medicine and sells health care products in 75 countries.
2 min read · 08 October 2015
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has partnered with Goodman Group and Dutch pension fund manager APG Asset Management in the launch of the Goodman UK Logistics Partnership. The partnership is expected to bring over £1 billion (about $1.99 billion) of investment capacity to logistics and industrial development opportunities in the United Kingdom. The initial portfolio is made up of two developments in logistics locations close to London and Birmingham, reflecting a combined 590,000 square feet.
4 min read · 08 October 2015
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and The Broe Group have agreed to acquire Encana Corp's Denver Julesberg Basin oil and gas assets in Colorado. The deal, which has a total consideration of about US$900 million, will see CPPIB own a 95 percent stake in the property, with U.S.-based Broe Group holding the remaining 5 percent. The acquisition, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter, includes all of the Denver Julesberg acreage comprising some 51,000 net acres. Calgary-based Encana has recently sold energy assets to other private equity-backed vehicles, including Brookfield Asset Management's Ember Resources Inc and Veresen Midstream LP.
3 min read · 08 October 2015
U.S. private equity firm Wynnchurch Capital has made an investment in Carson Air Ltd, a Kelowna, B.C.-based provider of fixed-wing air ambulance services, air cargo services, and flight school training. No financial terms were disclosed. Carson Air President Kevin Carson said the company plans to use its partnership with Wynnchurch to pursue strategic growth opportunities. Wynnchurch Managing Director Morty White said Carson Air is an "ideal platform investment" that will target growth in adjacent markets and new services. Wynnchurch, which has offices in Toronto and Montréal, closed its fourth mid-market fund at US$1.2 billion last November.
3 min read · 08 October 2015
