Kirk Falconer
Ormat Technologies Inc (NYSE: ORA) has completed its previously announced joint venture deal with Canadian private equity and infrastructure investor Northleaf Capital Partners. Northleaf paid US$162.3 million for a 36.75 percent equity interest in a subsidiary company that holds Ormat's Puna geothermal power plant in Hawaii, the Don A. Campbell geothermal power plant in Nevada, and other assets. Ormat, a Reno, Nevada-based alternative and renewable energy technology business, said the purchase price implies a total transaction value of about US$442 million.
Canadian mid-market private equity firm Signal Hill Equity Partners has raised a total of $142 million for its third fund, Signal Hill Equity Partners III LP. Capital commitments, which came from a mix of Canadian and international limited partners, including family offices, high net-worth investors and institutional investors, exceeded by 42 percent the original $100 million target set for Fund III. With offices in Toronto and Calgary, Signal Hill is managed by 15 professionals, who have completed over 100 transactions. The firm's deal making is focused on five key verticals: business and consumer services, specialty manufacturing, building products, food and consumer products and resource services.
U.S. private equity firm Arbor Investments has sold portfolio company Gold Standard Baking to Canadian private equity firm Tricor Pacific Capital. The deal's financial terms were not released. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Gold Standard is a manufacturer of frozen laminated dough products sold through grocery retailers, food service distributors, restaurant chains, commissaries and convenience stores across North America. Arbor invested in the company in 2008. The acquisition of Gold Standard by Tricor marks the firm's second disclosed platform investment in 2015. In April, Tricor bought U.S. recycling and waste solutions services provider Certified Recycling.
The private equity group of Brookfield Asset Management has intensified an already active deal pace with its plans to invest in a Canadian infrastructure company and a U.S. graphite electrode producer. This week the Toronto-based firm agreed to recapitalize Armtec Infrastructure and GrafTech International in a pair of transactions with a potential combined value of US$950 million.
Shoreline Energy Corp (TSX: SEQ), a Calgary-based oil and gas company, recently obtained creditor protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (Canada) (CCAA). The company filed for CCAA protection as current cash in hand "would not allow it to meet its current obligations as they become due." Shoreline said it will continue operations and explore strategic alternatives, including restructuring debt obligations and pursuing asset sales. In 2013, the company entered into a funding agreement with U.S. private equity firm Acceleration Resources that included plans for an investment of up to $50 million in its Wattenberg Field assets in Colorado.
U.S. real estate investment trust Associated Estates Realty Corp (NYSE, NASDAQ: AEC) has agreed to be bought by an affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management for about US$2.5 billion, including debt. The board of directors of the company has unanimously endorsed the transaction, which is expected to be completed in the second quarter, following a vote by shareholders. Headquartered in Richmond Heights, Ohio, Associated Estates manages a portfolio of 56 apartment communities containing 15,004 units located in 10 states. The Toronto-based Brookfield recently announced a US$1.1 equity issue to fund new deal opportunities.
The private equity group of Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) has made a strategic investment in AmWINS Group Inc, a distributor of specialty insurance products and services headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The investment values the company at more than US$2.3 billion. As a result of the transaction, AmWINS is now equally owned by PSP, U.S. private equity firm New Mountain Capital, and the company's employees. The Montréal-based PSP, which currently has a $5 billion co-investment portfolio comprised of 12 businesses, including AmWINS, said the investment will support the company's continued global expansion.
Canadian precious metals producer North American Palladium Ltd (NAP) (TSX: PDL) has agreed to a recapitalization deal with Brookfield Asset Management's private equity group. Subject to receipt of a superior proposal prior to June 30, 2015, the deal will, among other things, see amounts owing to Brookfield converted into equity, giving Brookfield 92 percent of NAP's outstanding common shares. Following the deal's closing, the company will undertake a $50 million rights offering to raise equity. The offering will be backstopped by Brookfield and other parties. Brookfield has also provided a US$25 million interim credit facility to permit continued operations of the company's Lac des Iles mine in Ontario.
Canadian private equity firm Tricor Pacific Capital has bought Certified Recycling, a provider of recycling and waste solutions services based in Anaheim, California. The financial terms of the deal were not published. U.S. investment bank Lincoln International LLC was the exclusive financial advisor to the company. Certified Recycling said the partnership with Tricor will help it accelerate growth and enhance service and support to suppliers and brokers. The investment is the second closed to date by Tricor Pacific Capital Partners Fund V, which raised $345 million last June. In September 2014, the fund invested in Tiger Calcium, a manufacturer of calcium chloride products.
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec plans to commit billions of dollars more to direct deals in the years ahead, signalling a continuing shift in strategy for one of the world’s largest private equity investors. Andreas Beroutsos, who heads the Caisse’s global PE group, said the overall PE portfolio will increase to about $35 billion over the next four to five years. This will be achieved to a significant extent by earmarking more dollars for solo deals, co-sponsorships and co-investments.