Swiss commodity trader and miner Glencore has shelved plans to sell a copper mine in Chile that was expected to fetch about US$500 million, sources told Reuters. Interest in the mine came from Magris Resources, a Canadian private equity firm run by former Barrick Gold Corp CEO Aaron Regent, as well as other PE firms and mining companies, the sources said.
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec said it would take control of a major cement project in Québec hit by massive cost overruns, and agreed to a new $250 million round of financing to complete it, Reuters reported. The Caisse, already an investor in the project, said it would invest an additional $125 million with funds managed by BlackRock Alternative Investors, which is also investing $125 million. The McInnis Cement project faced between $400 and $450 million in cost overruns and that it had insisted on a "change of control and a change in management" for the $1.1 billion cement project in Québec's Gaspé peninsula.
ONCAP, the mid-market private equity arm of Onex Corp, has made its first new investment in a year, agreeing to acquire commercial roofing company Tecta America for about US$130 million. The deal was struck this month by ONCAP III in partnership with other investors and the company’s management team. The seller is Oaktree Capital Management, a U.S. private equity firm. Oaktree bought Tecta for an undisclosed sum in July 2013.
Canada's Entertainment One, the owner of children's TV character Peppa Pig, has rejected a 1 billion-pound (US$1.3 billion) takeover offer from British broadcaster ITV (ITV.L), saying it undervalued the production and distribution company, Reuters reported. The Toronto-based company says its rights alone were independently valued at over US$1 billion last year. In late 2015, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a minority stake in Entertainment One from British private equity firm Marwyn Investment Management for $290 million. The pension fund remains the company's largest shareholder.
U.S. Steel Canada Inc has rejected a buyout offer from Ontario Steel Investments, a group that includes shareholders of Essar Global, saying it was not considering further proposals by Essar, which had been eliminated from the sale process, Reuters reported. U.S. Steel Canada said Essar was rejected as a potential buyer of the business earlier this year following discussions with stakeholders including the Ontario government. It cited a failure by Essar, the Indian energy and resources conglomerate, to provide evidence of its financial ability to own and operate the company and an inability to gain the support of all stakeholders.
Ontario Steel Investment Ltd, a group that includes shareholders of Essar Global, said that it had submitted an offer for the purchase of U.S. Steel Canada Inc, which has been in creditor protection since 2014, Reuters reported. The offer includes the assumption of $954 million in liabilities under U.S. Steel Canada's pension plan and a commitment to provide $25 million toward post-employment benefits for U.S. Steel Canada's past and present staff. Last month, Ontario Steel Investment launched a bid to acquire Essar Steel Algoma Inc.
Vail Resorts Inc said it would buy Whistler Blackcomb Holdings Inc, operator of the Canadian ski resort that was a venue for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, for about $1.39 billion, Reuters reported. Vail, which owns mountain resorts in the United States and Australia, will pay about $676 million in cash and $715 million in stock. Whistler Blackcomb is a portfolio company of KSL Capital Partners, a U.S. private equity firm focused on travel and leisure investments. KSL acquired a 24 percent stake in the business in December 2012.
Billionaire investor William Ackman has exited his hedge fund's investment in railway company Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd, freeing up roughly US$1.5 billion in cash to make other future investments. Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management and Canadian Pacific said this week the New York-based hedge fund sold its remaining 9.8 million shares in the railroad, representing a 6.51 percent stake, through trades organized by J.P. Morgan, Credit Suisse and B of A Merrill Lynch. Pershing Square earned some US$2.6 billion on its investment.
Canada’s top 10 first-half private equity deals had disclosed values of more than $7.8 billion, suggesting market activity in 2016 may be frothier than previously expected. Preliminary Thomson Reuters data show dollar flows for all deals surpassing the $10-billion-dollar mark at the end of June, up from $7.8 billion in the first half of 2015.
The US$6.8 billion buyout of Australian port and rail freight giant Asciano Ltd by global investors was approved by a court on Thursday, clearing the final hurdle for the country's biggest foreign takeover in five years, Reuters reported. The takeover involves selling Asciano's port assets in a split between Canada's Brookfield Asset Management and Australian stevedoring company Qube Holdings Ltd, while a consortium involving government-owned China Investment Corp will take its rail assets. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is partnering with CIC on the rail-assets acquisition, while British Columbia Investment Management Corp is investing alongside Brookfield.