Reuters News
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) is looking to buy part of a stake in Gatwick Airport that could be worth more than 3 billion pounds (US$3.92 billion), Reuters reported, citing a Sky News story. CPPIB is said to be part of a group of investors proposing to buy out Global Infrastructure Partners’ (GIP) 42 percent stake in the second-busiest airport in Britain. The Canadian pension fund would invest “hundreds of millions of pounds” in the airport, if the deal gets finalized, insiders told Sky News.
Blackstone Group has agreed a deal to acquire Ulterra Drilling Technologies, a manufacturer of drill bits and downhole tools for the oil and gas industry, for around $700 million, Reuters reported.
Japanese car parts maker Calsonic Kansei, owned by U.S. private equity firm KKR, has agreed to buy Fiat Chrysler’s high-tech parts-making unit Magneti Marelli unit for 6.2 billion euros ($7.1 billion), Reuters reported.
A consortium of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and Brazil’s Votorantim Energia won a privatization auction this week to buy a controlling stake in power company Companhia Energética de Sao Paulo SA (Cesp) from the government of Sao Paulo state, Reuters reported. The consortium will pay 14.6 reais per Cesp share, a 2.09 percent premium over the minimum sale price at the auction. Considering the government's stake of 40.6 percent, the consortium will pay a total of 1.7 billion reais (US$458.25 million). CPPIB and Votorantim Energia already have a joint venture in Brazil that plans invest in renewable power sources.
Canadian mining private equity firm Waterton Global Resource Management said it would call for a special meeting of Hudbay Minerals Inc’s shareholders after the Canadian miner refused its proposal for changes to its board, Reuters reported. Waterton, which said it owns a 7 percent stake in Hudbay, had also asked the miner to avoid any near-term acquisition or joint venture in a filing this week. Hudbay is in talks to buy Chilean miner Mantos Copper SA, according to media reports. “Hudbay’s recent market performance has been atrocious, as the company currently trades at a material discount to its peer group on multiple key valuation metrics,” Waterton said in a statement.
U.K. shopping centre owner Intu Properties said it was considering a 215 pence per share preliminary takeover offer from a consortium led by its deputy chairman John Whittaker, Reuters reported. The proposed deal, backed by Saudi Arabia’s Olayan Group and Canadian property investor Brookfield Asset Management, values the FTSE 250 firm which owns Manchester’s Trafford Centre at 2.91 billion pounds (US$3.8 billion). Whittaker’s consortium initially offered 205 pence per Intu share on October 11. Olayan and Whittaker’s Peel Group already hold 29.9 percent of Intu.
Blackstone Group LP (BX.N), the U.S. buyout firm which is relying on Saudi Arabia to provide half the money for its planned $40 billion infrastructure fund, waved off concerns about funding on Thursday even as controversy rages over the disappearance of a Saudi journalist that has frayed relations between Wall Street and the oil-rich kingdom, Reuters reported.
U.S. private equity giant Blackstone Group has quit a takeover battle for Australian office-block owner Investa Office Fund after it was gazumped by Canadian landlord Oxford Properties Group’s A$3.35 billion (US$2.4 billion) bid, Reuters reported. Blackstone told Investa it would not match the offer, all but handing the sought-after target to Oxford as office rents boom, especially in Sydney where Investa’s 20 towers are concentrated. Oxford’s offer will be voted on by shareholders at a meeting to be scheduled in December. Oxford invests in and manages real estate assets on behalf of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS).
U.S. hedge fund Livermore Partners is calling for an overhaul of the board at Detour Gold Corp and a strategic review, becoming the second activist to target the Canadian mining company, Reuters reported. Livermore sent a letter to Detour this week, saying the board has failed its shareholders on “numerous governance and operational matters.” The move comes after Paulson & Co asked for Detour’s entire board to be replaced and demanded a formal process to evaluate alternatives. Livermore Managing Director David Neuhauser said Detour needed to a hire a global investment bank to evaluate all strategic options, including a sale or a joint venture with a partner, such as a Chinese miner.
Investa Office Fund (IOF) has given U.S. private equity firm Blackstone Group four days to match a rival offer by Canada’s Oxford Properties Group as the bidding war for the Australian office owner comes to a head, Reuters reported. IOF said in a statement that its board has assessed Oxford’s binding proposal and determined it to be superior to the Blackstone offer. Oxford, the real estate investment arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS), upped its offer last month to A$5.60 a share, which was A$0.10 higher than Blackstone’s latest bid and valued IOF at A$3.35 billion (US$2.38 billion).