Tiger Group Investments and Standard Chartered Private Equity are investing $95 million in Greathorse Chemical. Greathorse Chemical is an owner and operator of modern small to mid-sized chemical tanker vessels, which are used to transport fine chemicals and vegetable oils for top tier industrial customers.
Panoramic Growth Equity has invested in family-run premium sausage makers Heck Foods, which was founded by Yorkshire farmers Andrew and Debbie Keeble. Heck brands are sold throughout the UK in Tesco, ASDA, Morrisons, Booths and Waitrose and via its own website.
F.N.B. Capital Partners has made a mezzanine debt and minority equity investment in Auburn Gear. FNBCP's investment supported the acquisition of Auburn Gear which was led by North River Capital. Auburn Gear, located in Auburn, IN, is a manufacturer of custom engineered wheel drives, axle drive components, and specialty drives for diverse mobile equipment applications and automobiles.
Celoxica has secured funds from Beringea Growth Finance. The business is a provider of ultra low-latency market data, order entry and pre-trade risk solutions and is headquartered in the UK with offices in Chicago, New York and Paris.
State-controlled oil giant Sinopec Corp has unveiled a plan to sell a $17.5 billion stake in its retail business, writes Reuters. Sinopec's retail unit will issue new shares to a group of 25 financial companies like insurers and funds and raise 107.1 billion yuan ($17.5 billion), the company said in a filing.
Singapore's sovereign fund GIC is joining Canada's PSP Investments and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan in together investing US$700 million to support the acquisition-led growth strategy of XPO Logistics Inc, Reuters reported. U.S. private equity firm Jacobs Private Equity, which is led by American businessman Bradley Jacobs, will continue to be the company's largest shareholder. Based in Greenwich, Connecticut, XPO is a provider of freight transportation services.
Winnipeg's the Boyd Group (TSX: BYDUN), which has been the focus of speculation about a potential private equity buyout, has acquired Champ's Holding Co LLC, a full-service auto collision repair service provider in Louisiana. The purchase price was around US$35 million. Boyd said that the deal would expand its reach to new customers, increase its geographical footprint, and provide for new growth opportunities. In July, peHUB Canada reported that some of Boyd's top collision repair competitors have been acquired recently by private equity firms. They include Caliber Collision Centers Inc, which OMERS Private Equity bought from ONCAP last November.
Canadian retailer Hudson's Bay Co (TSX: HBC) has reported financial results for the second quarter of 2014, showing sales totaling $1.77 billion, which reflect an increase of close to 87 percent from $948 million the year before. The business attributed sales growth, as well as year-over-year gains in gross profits, primarily to the inclusion of New York-based luxury retailer Saks Inc, which it acquired last November in a deal valued at US$2.9 billion. Hudson's Bay is a portfolio investment of U.S. private equity firm NRDC Equity Partners.
Luminator Technology Group (LTG), a portfolio company of U.S. private equity firm Audax Group, has acquired Axion Technologies Ltd for an undisclosed amount. Axion, a designer, manufacturer and supplier of passenger information. communication and closed circuit television systems to the transit industry, has its headquarters in La Pocatière, Québec. Based in Plano, Texas, LTD is a provider of passenger information systems for public transit and aerospace markets. It was bought by Audax from Levine Leichtman Capital Partners earlier this year. Axion received an investment from private equity and venture capital firm Fondaction CSN in 2008.
Canadian real estate private equity firm Forgestone Capital Management has become a partner in the Tsawwassen Commons retail centre, a new shopping destination in British Columbia's Lower Mainland. Forgestone acquired a 50 percent interest in the project, joining GVest Private Equity LP, an affiliate of Gracorp Capital Advisors, as an equal partner. The deal's financial terms were not disclosed. Ivanhoé Cambridge, the real estate investment arm of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, is currently focused on the adjacent Tsawwassen Mills project. Both projects will be completed in 2016.