Balmoral Wood Litigation Finance has secured more than US$25 million ($33 million) in committed capital in the first close of its debut litigation-finance fund. In a newsletter issued last month, the Toronto investor said Balmoral Wood Commercial Advocate Fund I held an initial close in February. The fund, which targets emerging opportunities in the global commercial litigation-finance industry, is targeted to raise US$150 million ($200 million), PE Hub Canada reported last October. It is being marketed to a range of limited partners, including family offices, pension funds and wealthy investors.
Novacap set a $600 million target for its fifth mid-market technology fund, which would be the largest in the private equity firm’s 35-year history. The Montréal investor began fundraising for Novacap TMT V in January, President and Managing Partner Pascal Tremblay told PE Hub Canada. He says he’s feeling “very confident” about meeting the fund’s goal later this year. Closing on $600 million would give Fund V about 58 percent more in committed capital than its predecessor, which raised $380 million in 2014.
Private equity firm Waterous Energy Fund is seeking investment opportunities in the Canadian oil and gas sector as valuations turn attractive after a prolonged slump in the oil price, making a contrarian bet as global players pull back, Reuters reported. Calgary-based Waterous Energy, which invests $100 million to $400 million per deal in energy assets, is targeting companies in Canada and the United States, and is finding Canada particularly appealing, said Adam Waterous, head of Waterous Energy and a former top investment banker at Bank of Nova Scotia. This week, Waterous Energy agreed to pay about $244 million for a 67 percent stake in Canadian energy company Northern Blizzard Resources Inc.
Germany's Siemens and Canada's Bombardier are in talks to combine their rail operations, sources told Reuters, a move that could strengthen their hand against Chinese state-backed market leader CRRC Corp. Siemens' and Bombardier's transport businesses are roughly comparable in size. With a combined 2016 operating profit of US$1.28 billion, the joint venture could be valued anywhere between US$14 billion and US$27 billion, according to the multiples of listed peers. Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec made a $2.1 billion convertible share investment in Bombardier's rail arm last year, giving the pension fund a 30 percent interest.
Ski resorts operator Aspen Skiing Co LLC and U.S. private equity firm KSL Capital Partners LLC will buy Intrawest Resorts Holdings Inc for about US$1.5 billion, including debt, Reuters reported. Intrawest's shares had risen 49 percent since January 12, the day before Reuters reported that it was working with investment banks on a possible sale. Intrawest, which has its principal Canadian office in Banff, Alberta, is majority-owned by U.S. private equity firm Fortress Investment Group LLC. Fortress took Intrawest private in 2006 for US$2.8 billion, and then took it public again in 2014.
Imperial Capital Group, one of Canada’s oldest private equity firms, has raised $500 million for its sixth mid-market fund to create fresh opportunities for doing large-size deals. The Toronto investor in March closed Imperial Capital Acquisition Fund VI at its hard-cap target, 25 percent above its original goal of $400 million, Managing Partner Jeff Rosenthal told PE Hub Canada. It's the largest fund Imperial has raised in its 28-year history, exceeding by 70 percent the $295 million secured by Fund V in 2014.
Source Energy Services, a proppant-sourcing and oilfield-logistics company, revised its recently filed initial public offering to raise $175 million. Source, backed by Canadian private equity firm TriWest Capital Partners, updated its prospectus to sell common shares at $10.50 apiece, down from a prior range of $17 to $20 per unit. The repriced IPO is expected to raise more than $200 million, once its greenshoe option is exercised, and value the Calgary company at more than $500 million.
Canadian mergers and acquisitions got off to their strongest start in 17 years in 2017 as cross-border deal activity picked up pace, with JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and RBC taking the top three spots in the advisory rankings, Reuters reported. Foreign banks further consolidated their position in Canadian deal-making as companies looked beyond borders for growth opportunities. Deal value in the first quarter of 2017 jumped 12 percent to US$75.4 billion, making it the best first quarter only behind the same period in 2000.
China's sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp said it has joined hands with Canada's Brookfield Asset Management Inc in acquiring 90 percent of a natural gas pipeline unit from Brazil's state oil firm Petróleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras), Reuters reported. The consortium includes other institutional investors, CIC stated on its website. Reuters reported last September that Petrobras agreed to sell 90 percent of its natural gas pipeline unit to a group of investors, including Brookfield, for US$5.2 billion.
Victor Li, co-chairman of Husky Energy Inc and son of one of Asia's richest men, has agreed to acquire Reliance Home Comfort LP, a Canadian provider of heating and cooling systems, from U.S. private investment firm Alinda Capital Partners for $2.8 billion, Reuters reported. Li is the heir to Hong Kong billionaire and property tycoon Li Ka-shing. Several U.S. private equity firms also looked at the asset, sources said. Reliance entered Alinda’s portfolio in 2007, when the investor acquired UE Waterheater Income Fund for about $1.74 billion.