Brussels Airport is being prepared for a potential sale as one of its owners is planning an exit from Belgium's main hub, sources told Reuters. Australian Macquarie's infrastructure fund, which owns a 36 percent stake, is currently in talks with co-owner Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, which has 39 percent, on whether the Canadian investor wants to increase its stake, the sources said. JP Morgan has been tasked with overseeing the process. Ontario Teachers' is looking to sell minority stakes in Britain's Bristol Airport and Birmingham Airport, Reuters reported earlier this month.
Restaurant Brands International Inc, owner of the Burger King and Tim Hortons fast-food chains, said on Tuesday it would acquire Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Inc for US$1.8 billion in cash, Reuters reported. The deal is a bet by Oakville, Ontario-based Restaurant Brands that it can use its international reach to introduce Popeyes' Louisiana-style fried chicken and buttermilk biscuits to more diners globally. Popeyes began 45 years ago as a Southern-fried "Chicken on the Run" restaurant in a New Orleans suburb. It has since expanded to more than 2,000 restaurants. Private equity firm 3G Capital, which is controlled by Brazilian billionaire Jorge Paulo Lemann, owns about 43 percent of the voting shares in Restaurant Brands.
Kinder Morgan Inc has begun talks with investors, including major Canadian pension funds and private equity firms, to raise capital for the $6.8 billion expansion of its Trans Mountain pipeline project, Reuters reported. Kinder Morgan has held discussions with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board, the sources said. Kinder Morgan has owned the pipeline since 2005 when it bought Canada's Terasen Inc. The expansion project will make Trans Mountain one of the biggest pipelines in North America.
Restaurant Brands International Inc, owner of the Burger King and Tim Hortons fast-food chains, has approached Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Inc about a possible acquisition, sources told Reuters. A deal would be a bet by Oakville, Ontario-based Restaurant Brands that it can use its international reach to introduce Popeyes' famous Louisiana-style fried chicken and buttermilk biscuits to more diners globally. Private equity firm 3G Capital, which is controlled by Brazilian billionaire Jorge Paulo Lemann, owns about 43 percent of the voting shares in Restaurant Brands. The company was formed in 2014, when 3G Capital-backed Burger King acquired Canadian coffee and doughnut chain Tim Hortons for US$11 billion.
Australian state-owned power grid Endeavour Energy has attracted indicative offers from at least three bidding groups comprised of local and foreign investors, sources told Reuters. A majority stake in the utility is expected to fetch at least A$4 billion (US$3.07 billion). The bidders are said by sources to be Macquarie Group, which has teamed up with Canada's British Columbia Investment Management Corp, a consortium led by Queensland Investment Corp that includes Canada's Borealis Infrastructure, and a consortium led by Hastings Funds Management that includes Canada's Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, one of the world's biggest infrastructure investors, is awaiting details of U.S. President Donald Trump's planned US$1 trillion infrastructure program, Reuters reported, citing comments made by Chief Executive Mark Machin. Machin said the fund was monitoring developments but it was too early to say what opportunities may materialize while the new U.S. administration works through its priorities. CPPIB already invests billions of dollars around the world in assets such as roads, bridges, and airports, would be an obvious candidate to invest in the program, infrastructure experts say.
Ottawa has appointed veteran pension executive Jim Leech as a special adviser for its new infrastructure bank, which has been set up to facilitate private investment in such projects as new roads and bridges, Reuters reported. Leech retired in 2014 as CEO of Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, which had pioneered a model of directly investing in infrastructure, real estate and other alternatives. He previously headed its Teachers' Private Capital, where he oversaw growth in private equity, venture capital and infrastructure investments from $2 billion in 2001 to $20 billion in 2007.
Canada’s pension funds are among the world’s biggest investors in private equity, according to a new report. Preqin’s The Private Equity Top 100, issued today, found that three of the 10 largest PE limited partners are Canadian. Sitting atop the list is Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
CPPIB, which invests on behalf of Canada’s public retirement system, earned the ranking with a current PE asset allocation of about US$44 billion, Preqin said. That’s just ahead of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign-wealth fund, which oversees a pool of about US$40 billion.
Brookfield Asset Management’s private equity group earned more than twice the amount it paid to acquire Maax, a bathroom-fixtures maker recently sold to American Bath. The Toronto investor said it sold Maax, a company it held for nearly a decade, to American Bath in January. The buyer, a Savannah, Tennessee, tub-and-shower business, is owned by Lone Star Funds, which acquired it from Sterling Group last year. Brookfield also announced a new platform investment. It struck a deal to acquire a roughly 85 percent stake in Greenergy, a supplier of road fuels to consumers in the United Kingdom.
Hudson's Bay Co has made a takeover approach for retail chain Macy's Inc, sources told Reuters, in a deal that would push the Canadian department store operator deeper into the U.S. market. Shares of Macy's had a market value of about US$9.4 billion as of Thursday's close. A deal would add another retailer to Hudson Bay's expanding portfolio, which includes Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor in the United States, as well as Galeria Kaufhof in Europe. The Canadian retailer was acquired in 2008 by private equity firm NRDC Equity Partners, headed by Richard Baker, now HBC's executive chairman.