Private Equity
Glencore is in talks with a Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund and China's state-backed COFCO, along with Canadian pension funds, to sell a stake in its agricultural assets, sources told Reuters. Glencore is said to be creating a legal entity for the assets involved, expected to be mostly those inherited from the $6.1 billion purchase of Canadian grain handler Viterra in 2012.
2 min read · 05 October 2015
Bombardier Inc is in discussions with the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, which manages Québec's public pension plans, on a deal that could inject more cash into the troubled plane and train maker, sources told Reuters. One source said the Caisse, already one of Bombardier's biggest shareholders, was contemplating taking a larger stake in the Montréal-based company.
3 min read · 05 October 2015
Stericycle Inc (NASDAQ: SRCL) has closed its purchase of Shred-it International Inc, a Canadian provider of secure information destruction services. As reported by PE Hub Canada in July, Stericycle agreed to pay US$2.3 billion to acquire the business from Canadian private equity firm Birch Hill Equity Partners, Cintas Corp and other equity holders. It said the deal will add business-to-business compliance solutions and help expand Stericycle's global reach. Oakville, Ont.-based Shred-it, which planned an initial public offering prior to the acquisition's announcement, has been a portfolio company of Birch Hill and other investors since 2009.
4 min read · 02 October 2015
JPMorgan Chase, the lead advisor to General Electric Co on the sale of its finance assets, vaulted to the top of the Canadian M&A league tables following a string of GE asset sales to Canadian buyers, Reuters reported. Thomson Reuters data showed US$191 billion in mergers and acquisitions involving Canadian entities year-to-date, up 28 percent from a year ago.
2 min read · 02 October 2015
MeteoGroup has agreed to buy The Weather Network Commercial Services Division from Pelmorex Media Inc, a Canadian specialist in weather and travel information services. The deal's financial terms were not released. MeteoGroup, a European private weather data and decision support business, said the acquisition will give it more capabilities, including expertise in the transportation and energy sectors, as well as a strong presence in the Canadian market. MeteoGroup was acquired by U.S. private equity firm General Atlantic in March 2014. Oakville, Ontario-based Pelmorex is the parent of The Weather Network, MétéoMédia and related multi-media platforms.
3 min read · 02 October 2015
Canadian private equity firm NorthSpring Capital Partners has completed five new investments to date this year. The firm made investments in: ComTech CNG, a supplier of natural gas refuelling stations in Canada; Eve Medical and Intellijoint Surgical TM, both medical technology companies; ParkLane Holdings, which bought a food and consumer products retailer and wholesaler; and Synergy Disc Replacement, a medical device provider. It also exited two portfolio investments: Pegasus Direct Mail Worx and Exocor. NorthSpring provides risk capital ranging from $250,000 to $1 million for businesses located within a 100 kilometer radius of its Cambridge, Ontario headquarters.
5 min read · 02 October 2015
Canadian private equity firm Clairvest Group has completed the previously-announced sale of Casino New Brunswick to Great Canadian Gaming Corp. The deal, which had a total value of $95 million, provided Clairvest with about $57 million in proceeds. Based in Moncton, Casino New Brunswick is a casino, hotel and multi-use entertainment and convention centre. Clairvest invested in the business in 2008 as part of a group that won an open government request for a proposal to build and operate the first and only casino complex in the province. Casino New Brunswick now generates annual gaming revenues in excess of $50 million, Clairvest said.
2 min read · 02 October 2015
Bonnefield Financial, a private equity firm that specializes in investing in Canadian farmland, has earned an "A" rating from the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (UN-PRI). UN-PRI is a global network of investors that work together to put six principles for responsible investment into practice. Toronto-based Bonnefield became a signatory in December 2014. Early last year, the firm closed its third fund, Bonnefield Canadian Farmland LP III, at $261 million.
2 min read · 01 October 2015
Imperial Parking Corp (Impark), a portfolio company of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, has purchased the assets of San Francisco Parking Inc, a parking management business based in San Francisco. No financial terms were released. Impark, which bought Pacific Parking Management last year, said the latest acquisition makes it the largest parking operator in the San Francisco Bay Area. Vancouver-based Impark, a manager of 2,600 locations across North America, was acquired by Ontario Teachers in 2011 from an investor group that included U.S. private equity firm Gates Group Capital Partners.
2 min read · 01 October 2015
Canada's primary market for initial public offerings (IPOs) saw fewer new issues, but higher values, in the third quarter of 2015, according to a report by PwC. A total of five IPOs raised more than $795 million in new equity, up from Q3 2014, and pushing the total raised to date this year to $2.2 billion. PwC said the largest issuer in Q3 2015 was Sleep Country Canada Holdings Inc, a portfolio investment of Canadian private equity firm Birch Hill Equity Partners, which raised $300 million. The period also saw new offerings by private equity-backed TMAC Resources Inc and Crown Capital Partners, a Canadian specialty finance firm.
3 min read · 01 October 2015
