Private Equity
Canadian potash company Western Potash Corp (TSX: WPX) has secured an equity investment totaling $80 million from Beijing Tairui Innovation Capital Management, a Chinese private equity firm focused on energy and mining industries. The transaction will give Tairui a 51 percent ownership stake in the company and the ability to appoint four nominees to the board of directors. Western Potash said the investment's proceeds will be used for the development of a mining facility on its Milestone property located in southern Saskatchewan. Founded in 2007, Western Potash has its headquarters in Vancouver.
4 min read · 06 July 2015
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has bought a 60 percent ownership interest in Minto High Park Village, a multifamily rental property located in Toronto. CPPIB paid about $105 million to Minto Properties Inc for the stake. Minto will continue to own a 40 percent interest in the property. The Canadian pension fund manager said the acquisition represents its first direct investment in the domestic multifamily real estate sector.
3 min read · 06 July 2015
Black Swan Energy Ltd has closed its previously-announced buy of Carmel Bay Exploration Ltd for about $200 million in cash. The deal includes assets in the Montney fairway in British Columbia. Black Swan also received $350 million in follow-on investment from its private equity backers, which include the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), KERN Partners and Warburg Pincus. As a result, it has raised $850 million to date. The proceeds of the latest funding will be used for the Carmel Bay acquisition, related asset development and continued growth of production and reserves. The Calgary-based Black Swan in focused on early-entry Western Canadian resource plays.
4 min read · 06 July 2015
ACCEO Solutions Inc has bought Julo LLC, a provider of recreational facilities and services based in Québec City. The deal's financial terms were not disclosed. ACCEO, a business software specialist with headquarters in Montréal, said the acquisition will add to its existing recreational management solutions platform. Earlier this year, the company also bought Multipost Ltd. In 2012, France’s GFI Informatique SA sold its stake in ACCEO, then known as GFI Solutions Inc, to an investor group that included Capital régional et coopératif Desjardins, Fonds de solidarité FTQ and Investissement Québec.
3 min read · 06 July 2015
Rogers Communications Inc has completed its previously-announced acquisition of wireless operator Mobilicity, a.k.a. DAVE Holdings Inc, for about $465 million. Rogers, a telecommunications and media business, said it had received "all requisite governmental, creditor and court approvals" related to the deal. Based in Vaughan, Ontario, Mobilicity has been backed by U.S. private equity firm Quadrangle Capital Partners since 2008. The company was also a portfolio investment of Canadian private equity firm Catalyst Capital Group, which helped to structure the acquisition by Rogers.
1 min read · 06 July 2015
WSP Global Inc (TSX: WSP) has bought Faveo Management AS, a Scandinavian provider of project management and specialist services in the areas of infrastructure and energy. The acquisition, the value of which was not disclosed, follows other recent purchases by WSP in the region. Based in Montréal, WSP is a diversified professional services company backed by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. This week it also acquired Levelton Consultants Ltd.
4 min read · 03 July 2015
PaperWorks Industries Inc, a portfolio company of U.S. private equity firm Sun Capital Partners, has wrapped up its previously announced buy of CanAmPac ULC. The deal's value was not released. CanAmPac, a Canadian integrated paperboard and consumer packaging supplier, was sold to PaperWorks by Atlas Holdings LLC. Based in Napanee, Ontario, CanAmPac operates three divisions: Boehmer Box, LYFT Visual and Strathcona Paper. PaperWorks, a U.S. paperboard packaging business, said the acquisition will provide an expanded supply source for its North American customers. It has been backed by Sun Capital since 2008.
2 min read · 03 July 2015
One51 plc has agreed to acquire a majority stake in IPL Inc, a Canadian injection-molded plastic products business, for about $280 million. The deal, which will give One51 a 67 percent interest in the company, is being done in partnership with the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Fonds de solidarité FTQ and Investissement Québec. The seller is Canadian private equity firm Novacap, which led the $94.2 million privatization of the Saint-Damien, Québec-based IPL in 2010. In a statement, One51, an Irish environmental services and plastics company, said the purchase will provide it with a platform for growth in North America. The deal is expected to close by the end of July.
5 min read · 03 July 2015
Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal were the top two advisers on Canadian M&A deals in the first half of 2015, a period during which the overall dollar value of deals surged despite a decline in the actual number of transactions, Reuters reported. Thomson Reuters data showed US$122 billion in merger and acquisition transactions in Canada in the first half, up 35 percent from the year before and topped only by the record first half of 2007.
2 min read · 02 July 2015
WSP Global Inc (TSX: WSP) has acquired Levelton Consultants Ltd, a provider of specialized engineering solutions based in Richmond, British Columbia. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. WSP said the acquisition will strengthen its position in the professional environmental services space in Canada. Headquartered in Montréal, WSP is backed by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. CPPIB and the Caisse have supported a number of the company’s recent add-on deals, including the 2014 purchase of Parsons Brinckerhoff.
4 min read · 02 July 2015
