Canada Scoops & Analysis

Canada's Shaw Communications Inc said it would sell its data centre subsidiary ViaWest Inc to Peak 10 Holding Corp for US$1.675 billion, using some of the proceeds to buy airwaves to boost its new wireless unit, Reuters reported. Shaw bought ViaWest from U.S. private equity firms Oak Hill Capital Partners and GI Partners for about US$1.2 billion three years ago. Peak 10 Holding is owned by GI Partners. Analysts were calling on Shaw to sell its data centre business after Verizon Communications Inc and CenturyLink Inc reaped several billions of dollars after agreeing to sell their portfolios last year.
U.S. hedge fund manager Eddie Lampert-controlled Sears Canada Inc flagged doubts about its ability to continue as a going concern and said it was exploring strategic options, including a sale of the company, following years of losses and falling sales, Reuters reported. Sears Canada's shares slumped as much as 56 percent to 50 Canadian cents in early trading, as investors fretted about whether the company would be able to weather this liquidity crisis before it found a buyer. The company was valued at about $51 million (US$38.5 million) at its lowest stock price on Tuesday, a far cry from the $1.18 billion valuation when it was partially spun off from Sears Holdings Corp in 2012.
Altice USA, the cable operator that Netherlands-based Altice NV put together by acquiring Cablevision Systems Corp and Suddenlink Communications, will be valued at up to US$22 billion after its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, Reuters reported. Of the projected US$1.6 billion in proceeds at the top end of the price range, Altice USA would receive US$374 million because about three quarters of the shares sold will be offered by London-based private equity firm BC Partners and fellow stakeholder Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board.
Canadian private equity fund Catalyst Capital Group recently proposed a strategic partnership with Home Capital Group Inc that would see it injecting new capital into the lender, Reuters reported, citing a Globe & Mail story. Citing sources familiar with the proposal, the Globe & Mail reported that Catalyst, an asset manager that focuses on distressed companies, had also put forward a proposed new management team for Home Capital with banking experience. The report said Catalyst is understood to have lined up support for the proposal from a group of institutional investors.
A visit to trucking company Titanium Transportation helps explain why BlackBerry's stock is once again a darling in Canadian markets, having soared 70 percent in two months, Reuters reported. Nestled in an industrial area some 50 kilometers north of Toronto, the trucker is an early adopter of a new BlackBerry fleet-tracking service known as Radar. Radar is emblematic of BlackBerry Chief Executive John Chen's strategy for turning around the Canadian icon, by steering the company away from consumer electronics and back to its roots of selling products to businesses.
Home Capital Group Inc has received takeover approaches led by Canadian private equity firms Onex Corp and Brookfield Asset Management but is moving ahead with plans to stay independent, Reuters reported, citing a Globe & Mail story. The Globe & Mail cited a source close to the process as saying the offers received to date were "speculative, conditional and not that attractive". It said the company was working on plans to restore its financial health, through steps including the sale of smaller lines of business.
Embattled Canadian drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc said it would sell its iNova Pharmaceuticals business for US$930 million in cash as it looks to pay down debt, Reuters reported. The unit, which sells prescription and over-the-counter products, will be bought by a company jointly owned by private equity firms Pacific Equity Partners and Carlyle Group, Valeant said. The deal is expected to close in the second half of this year. Valeant is focusing on its dermatology, eye care and gastrointestinal units while pruning other assets to repay long-term debt, which stands at US$28.54 billion as of March 31.
Canada's Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd said it had agreed to buy a precious metals portfolio from U.S. private equity firm Orion Mine Finance Group for $1.13 billion (US$839.40 million) to expand its diamond, gold and silver asset base, Reuters reported. Osisko will pay Orion $675 million in cash and the remaining $450 million in Osisko shares. The portfolio consists of 74 royalties, streams and precious metals offtakes and will result in Osisko holding a total of 131 royalties and streams, the company said. Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Fonds de solidarité FTQ agreed to help fund Osisko's acquisition via a $275 million private placement.
Alberta oil and gas land sales have reached levels not seen since 2014 thanks to a rush to buy land in an oil-rich pocket of the Duvernay shale play that was until recently written off as being uneconomic, Reuters reported. Vesta Energy, one of two private companies leading the land purchases, last week secured $305 million in financing led by private equity firms Riverstone Holdings and JOG Capital. Resurgent land prices are a rare bright spot for Canada's energy industry, dominated by northern Alberta's oil sands projects, a sector that global companies have withdrawn from this year because of high costs and slow returns on capital.
Canadian equity markets risk being swamped with oil sands company shares this year as Royal Dutch Shell and ConocoPhillips prepare to offload $6.8 billion worth of stakes in two domestic producers, just months after acquiring them, Reuters reported. The companies acquired shares in Canadian Natural Resources Ltd and Cenovus Energy as part of deals struck earlier this year to sell off oil sands assets. With Canadian producers spending heavily this year on buying up fleeing majors' assets, there is a limited list of potential domestic buyers for the sale. The shares could attract interest from hedge funds, private equity and institutional investors if priced at a discount to the market price, energy sector analysts said.
pehub
pehub

Copyright PEI Media

Not for publication, email or dissemination