Canada Pension Plan Investment Board this week reported an 11.6 percent return on investments in its latest fiscal year but warned double-digit growth was not sustainable with competition for assets intensifying, Reuters reported. CPPIB ended the year with net assets of $356.1 billion, compared with $316.7 billion a year ago, the second largest annual growth since the fund’s creation in 1997. However, its President and CEO Mark Machin warned that returns will slow, with competition for assets being the biggest challenge facing CPPIB.
Toronto private equity firm Area One Farms is raising two funds to expand its business of partnering with Canadian farmers, President and CEO Joelle Faulkner told Buyouts. Area One Farms Fund IV is targeting $250 million from institutions, with room to raise around $100 million more. Area One Farms Fund V is aimed at Canadian individuals and structured as a permanent-capital vehicle, with liquidity options starting in year five. It will seek $50 million to $100 million.
Canadian alternative investment firm Brookfield Asset Management made a US$3.3 billion approach for Australian hospital group Healthscope, trumping a local buyout proposal and sending shares of the target up to a two-year high, Reuters reported. The approach, disclosed by Healthscope in a statement, sets the scene for a takeover battle for the No. 2 Australian private hospital operator which has seen its shares slide due to high debt and a shift back to public health services after a scandal in the private sector. New Australian private equity player BGH Capital made an approach worth US$3.1 billion on April 26.
Imperial Capital Group more than tripled the money it put into Dental Corp of Canada following L Catterton’s investment in the company, a person with knowledge of the matter told PE Hub Canada. Dentalcorp, Canada’s largest network of dental clinics, last week said it raised a significant investment from L Catterton. Terms weren’t disclosed. The deal generated 3.5 x Imperial’s nearly four-year investment, which translates into an IRR of 50 percent, the source said.
Canadian Tire Corp will buy Norway-based Helly Hansen for $985 million, the diversified retailer said on Thursday, as it expands its sportswear business, Reuters reported. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter. Oslo-based Helly Hansen, currently owned by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, sells a range of apparel used in sailing, skiing, mountaineering and hiking at its own stores as well as retailers such as Nordstrom. Ontario Teachers’ acquired a majority stake in the business in 2012.
Enbridge Inc has received higher-than-expected bids for the Canadian midstream assets it is selling as part of its debt-reduction efforts, with initial bids valuing the portfolio as high as $4.5 billion, sources told Reuters. Keyera Corp, Pembina Pipeline Corp and Husky Energy Inc’s midstream unit are among suitors that placed preliminary bids ahead of a recent deadline. Wolf Midstream Inc, backed by Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board, has made a bid for some of the assets on offer, and Inter Pipeline and KKR & Co were also said to be interested.
Canadian pipeline operator Enbridge Inc will sell a U.S. gas pipelines business and part of its renewable energy assets for a total of about $3.2 billion (US$2.5 billion) as it seeks to shed secondary assets and reduce its massive debt load, Reuters reported. Enbridge said it had sealed a $1.75 billion agreement with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to sell a 49 percent stake in wind and solar power assets in North America and Germany. It will also sell Midcoast Operating LP, its U.S. gas pipelines unit, to an affiliate of U.S. private equity firm ArcLight Capital Partners for US$1.12 billion.
Hudson’s Bay Co is working with investment bankers and consultants to identify deals and new measures to turn around its Lord & Taylor department store chain, once the cornerstone of its retail empire, sources told Reuters. The Canadian retailer has been working with investment bank PJ Solomon Co for advice on potential deals regarding its department store portfolio, and is also working with consulting firm AlixPartners LLP on cutting costs and reforming its business. Much of their focus has been on Lord & Taylor, which accounts for about one-tenth of Hudson’s Bay’s stores.
Canadian department store owner Hudson’s Bay Co and joint venture partner RioCan REIT have signed a conditional agreement to sell HBC’s flagship store in Vancouver for about $675 million to an Asian buyer, a source told Reuters. The buyer, who owns a closely-held real estate company, is seeking to arrange interim financing from at least one Canadian lender. The deal is expected to close in June. It progresses HBC’s efforts to extract value from its substantial real estate holdings as it battles a retail industry-wide slump and faces investor pressure to lift its share price.
Canadian plane and train maker Bombardier Inc has agreed to sell its Toronto aircraft assembly site to a pension fund as part of efforts to raise extra cash under a five-year recovery plan, Reuters reported. The company, whose quarterly results beat estimates for profit by a cent, will make US$635 million ($816 million) gross from the sale to Canada's Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments). Bombardier had said earlier this year it was looking for buyers for the sprawling Downsview property, where it assembles the Q400 and several business jets.