ISIS Equity Partners has sold Encore Tickets to ECI Partners in a secondary buyout transaction. Financial details of the deal are not being disclosed.
Independent carrier integrator MDNX Group has acquired Easynet, a provider of managed networking, hosting and cloud integration services, from LDC. The merged operations of the two businesses will operate under the Easynet brand going forward.
Monroe Credit Advisors placed $33.0 million of senior secured credit facilities for Smith Mountain Industries, a portfolio company of private equity sponsor, Strength Capital Partners. The credit facilities are comprised of a $15.0 million asset-based revolving credit facility provided by a bank and an $18.0 million term loan provided by a commercial finance company.
Private equity firms Hellman & Friedman and JMI Equity are exploring a sale of human resources management software firm Kronos, which could be valued at more than $4 billion, writes Reuters. Kronos is in early stage talks with a small group of private equity firms, including KKR & Co LP, TPG Capital LP and Bain Capital LLC, about a potential deal, writes Reuters.
Partners Group is backing the buyout of Hofmann Menü Manufaktur. The company is a German provider of customized cook and freeze products to small business canteens and social organizations such as retirement homes, hospitals and schools.
Advantage Rent A Car said it picked Canadian private equity firm Catalyst Capital Group Inc to buy its assets in bankruptcy proceedings and reached a deal with Hertz Global Holdings Inc that allows Advantage to continue using a leased vehicle fleet, reports Reuters. Advantage had to file for bankruptcy protection last month after Hertz terminated their vehicle lease agreements, saying Advantage had failed to make some payments on 24,000 vehicles. The settlement also gives Catalyst an option to buy the leased vehicles from Hertz, which will make a $2.8 million payment to Catalyst once it completes its purchase of Advantage.
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has taken a 15% interest in ORPEA S.A., a Paris, France-based provider of skilled nursing, post-acute care, rehabilitation and psychiatric services. CPPIB acquired 7,952,718 shares from Dr. Jean-Claude Marian, founder and chairman of ORPEA, and from Santé Finance et Investissement, at a price of €40.34 per share, representing an investment of €320.8 million. CPPIB has also agreed to underwrite a primary share capital increase of up to €100 million to help accelerate the company's international growth program. Founded in 1989, ORPEA has a network of healthcare facilities across Europe.
Canadian department store operator Hudson's Bay Co reported a lower-than-expected adjusted quarterly profit due to higher expenses, but same-store sales at its Lord & Taylor chain in the United States returned to growth, reports Reuters. The company's net loss widened to C$124.2 million, or C$1.04 per share, in the quarter ended Nov. 2 from C$14.4 million, or 14 Canadian cents per share, a year earlier, hurt mainly by the cost of buying U.S. retailer Saks Inc. Hudson's Bay, which is backed by U.S. private equity firm NRDC Equity Partners, completed its $2.4 billion acquisition of Saks last month.
Constellation Software Inc (TSX: CSU), which acquires, manages and builds vertical market software businesses, has bought for an undisclosed sum ASA Automotive Systems LLC, a Merrimack, New Hampshire-based supplier of on-premise and cloud-based software products for tire dealers, auto repair shops, and re-treaders. The deal was done through the company's subsidiary, Vela Operating Group. The Toronto-based Constellation is a portfolio company of OMERS Private Equity, the private equity investment arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System.
A bidding war for Australia's Commonwealth Property Office Fund escalated after Dexus Property Group and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board hiked their joint offer - a move expected to prompt a higher bid from a rival suitor, reports Reuters. The latest cash and stock offer values CPA, as the fund is known, at A$3 billion ($2.7 billion) and represents a 2.6 percent premium over a bid from rival property investor GPT Group, Dexus said.