North American bidders will not need an Australian partner to bid for Australian electricity distributor Ausgrid, an adviser on the potentially A$10 billion (US$7.46 billion) deal said, after the government rejected sole offers from Chinese interests. Canadian funds such as Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Borealis Infrastructure had this month been advised during a roadshow that they did not need Australian partners if they bid through a consortium, the source told Reuters.
Specialty golf retailer Golfsmith International Inc, a portfolio company of OMERS Private Equity, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and agreed to sell its Canadian retail chain to a group led by Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd and a unit of CI Investments Inc, Reuters reported. Golfsmith listed both its assets and liabilities at between US$100 million and US$500 million, according to a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The company said it plans to sell itself as a going concern and partially liquidate the business. However, if the plan fails, the company plans a full liquidation. Austin, Texas-based Golfsmith said it was working with its first-lien lenders to finalize the terms of a US$135 million debtor-in-possession financing facility.
ONCAP, the mid-market private equity arm of Onex Corp, has sold U.S. pizza-buffet chain Cicis, a portfolio company it held for close to a decade. The deal was announced last week by Cicis and its new investor Arlon Group, a U.S. private equity firm. No financial terms were released. ONCAP's sale comes on the heels of the firm's agreement in August to acquire U.S. roofing contractor Tecta America from Oaktree Capital Management.
Brazil’s state-run oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA agreed to sell 90 per cent of its natural gas pipeline unit to a group of investors led by Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management for US$5.2 billion, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The investor group includes British Columbia’s pension fund and Chinese and Singaporean sovereign wealth funds CIC and GIC. The preliminary agreement will be submitted to the companies’ boards and the deal is expected to close in late September, the source said.
Informatica Corp, a privately-held software developer, said it expects its valuation to double to at least US$10 billion in the next five years, driven by investments in big data and cloud computing, Reuters reported. The Redwood City, California-based company was taken private last year by Permira and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for about US$5.3 billion. Informatica is aiming to go public again in early 2019, Chief Product Officer Amit Walia told Reuters in an interview.
American International Group Inc is in early talks to sell Lloyd's of London Ltd's insurance operations to Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Reuters reported, citing a story by the Wall Street Journal. If the deal comes through, it could fetch the insurance conglomerate hundreds of millions of dollars in proceeds. CPPIB is also in talks to buy a related reinsurance company based in Bermuda, the Journal story said.
Private equity firm Clearspring Capital Partners plans to sell Medical Pharmacies Group Ltd, a Canadian provider of drug services to nursing homes, in a deal that could fetch as much as $1 billion, sources told Reuters. Toronto-based Clearspring has hired investment banks BMO Capital Markets and Harris Williams to facilitate a sale, the sources said. Interest in Medical Pharmacies is expected to come from financial and strategic buyers on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border, and may include include private equity firms looking to expand into the fast-growing long-term care industry.
Canada's Brookfield Asset Management has signed a preliminary contract to buy Brazilian engineering conglomerate Grupo Odebrecht's 70 percent stake in water and sewage group Odebrecht Ambiental, a source told Reuters. The source said the deal was done at an equity value of 5.3 billion real (US$1.65 billion). Odebrecht Group will retain the right to develop water concession projects outside Brazil and Brookfield will re-brand Odebrecht Ambiental. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
OMERS Private Equity tripled its investment in Give & Go Prepared Foods with the recent sale of the Canadian baked-goods maker to Thomas H. Lee Partners. Terms weren’t disclosed for the deal, which closed earlier this month. Reuters previously reported Give & Go's sale could fetch as much as $1 billion (US$800 million).
U.S. private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co may bid for Canadian television distributor Entertainment One Ltd after the owner of the preschool cartoon character "Peppa Pig" rejected an offer from U.K. broadcaster ITV Plc, Reuters reported, citing a Bloomberg story. KKR has not decided whether to make a bid, sources told Bloomberg. Entertainment One last week rejected a US$1.3 billion takeover offer from British broadcaster ITV, saying it undervalued the production and distribution company.