Canada's Brookfield Asset Management said it would buy Forest City Realty Trust Inc in a deal valued at US$11.4 billion, including debt, months after Forest City ceded board control to activist shareholders, Reuters reported. Forest City had been looking to sell itself and had reached out to more than 50 potential buyers, but failed to strike a deal. In March, it abandoned the sale process. Forest City’s portfolio includes office space, life science assets, retail space and multifamily units, as well as large-scale projects in New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
Canada’s Alberta Investment Management Corp (AIMCo) has reached an agreement with Brazilian private equity firm IG4 Capital Investimentos SA to inject 400 million reais (US$107.26 million) in the Brazilian water and sewage service holding company Iguá Saneamento SA for an undisclosed stake, Reuters reported. The proceeds will be used to finance capital expenditures in Iguá’s 18 existing concessions and public-private partnerships in five Brazilian states. IG4 Capital has been Iguá’s controlling shareholder since 2017 and will maintain that position after the capital injection.
Chesapeake Energy Corp plans to sell all of its Ohio natural gas acreage to privately owned Encino Acquisition Partners (EAP) for about US$2 billion, Reuters reported. The sale to Houston-based EAP includes 320,000 net acres in Ohio’s Utica shale and 920 wells that currently produce about 107,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. EAP is backed by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Encino Energy Ltd. The deal is expected to close in Q4 2018. Last year, CPPIB said it would invest up to US$1 billion to buy oil and gas assets in the United States through the partnership with Encino Energy.
Canadian Business Growth Fund, a mid-market fund launched this year with the backing of 13 financial institutions, is led by a former buyout pro turned business operator. George Rossolatos, CBGF’s CEO since January, learned the private equity trade while working with Brent Belzberg, one of Bay Street’s most storied investors. Rossolatos was with Belzberg for nearly a decade, first at listed merchant bank Harrowston, sold in 2001 to TD Capital, and then at TorQuest Partners, a firm they co-founded several months later.
Canadian private equity firm Altas Partners has hired David Brent as a partner. Brent joins the firm from U.S. alternative asset manager Apollo Global Management. Working from Apollo's London and New York offices, he focused on sourcing, evaluating and executing private equity opportunities across a range of industries. Brent began his career in the leveraged finance group of Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Earlier this year, Toronto-based Altas acquired University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences for US$400 million. The deal was the third done so far by Altas Partners Holdings LP, which raised US$1 billion in 2016.
Detour Gold has asked the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) to investigate activist investor Paulson and Co’s campaign seeking change at the company, calling it “concerning and unlawful behavior,” Reuters reported. The U.S. hedge fund, run by billionaire John Paulson, has threatened to replace the company’s board if it does not successfully explore strategic alternatives, including a sale, and look for a new CEO. It owns 5.4 percent of Detour Gold. Earlier, the hedge fund issued a press release saying Detour Gold had received a buyout offer from another gold miner, but had failed to disclose it publicly.
Canadian coffee and doughnut chain Tim Hortons is pushing into China with plans to open 1,500 outlets in the world’s second largest economy over the next 10 years, Reuters reported. Restaurant Brands International Inc, which owns Tim Hortons as well as Burger King chains, said its Chinese restaurants will be opened under a master franchise joint venture with U.S. private equity firm Cartesian Capital Group. “China’s population and vibrant economy represent an excellent growth opportunity for Tim Hortons in the coming years,” President Alex Macedo said in a statement.
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and Silicon Valley-based investor TCV are buying a stake in Sportradar, valuing the Swiss sports data group at 2.1 billion euros (US$2.5 billion), including debt, Reuters reported. Founder and Chief Executive Carsten Koerl will retain his majority stake in Sportradar, while CPPIB and TCV are buying a 37 percent stake from buyout group EQT as well additional shares from other minority investors. CPPIB and TCV won out in the auction against buyout groups KKR and Blackstone Group, sources said.
Canadian mergers-and-acquisitions activity edged lower in the first half of 2018, weighed by trade uncertainty, investment bankers and lawyers said, in contrast to a surge in global dealmaking, Reuters reported. Year-to-date deal volume slipped 2.3 percent to US$130.3 billion ($171 million) from US$133.3 billion in the same period last year, according to data released by Thomson Reuters this week. Factors weighing on market sentiment include fears of a trade war between the United States and other countries, as well as a lack of a resolution of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Enbridge Inc said this week it would sell its Canadian natural gas gathering and processing business to Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP and its institutional partners for about $4.31 billion, as part of a move to recast itself as a pipeline utility, Reuters reported. The business includes 19 natural gas processing plants and liquids handling facilities and is spread across Montney, Peace River Arch, Horn River and Liard basins in British Columbia and Alberta. Calgary-based Enbridge has been under pressure to sell non-core assets and reduce its debt.