Telus Corp, one of Canada's three big telecom providers, said it would sell a 35 percent stake in outsourcing service provider Telus International, and plans to use the proceeds to expand its wireless and wireline networks, Reuters reported. Vancouver-based Telus said it would sell the stake in Telus International to Baring Private Equity Asia for proceeds of about $600 million. The deal values the business unit at $1.2 billion.
Business Development Bank of Canada has recruited a seasoned investment pro to help it carve out a role in Canada’s under-served growth equity market. Last month BDC Capital brought on Elmer Kim as vice president, growth equity. The hire puts Kim at the head of a new investment platform, BDC Capital Growth Equity, intended to focus on the minority equity-financing needs of mature small and medium-sized companies.
U.S. private equity firm CCMP Capital Advisors is trying to sell Jamieson Laboratories about two years after buying the Canadian vitamin maker, sources told Reuters. CCMP, which has hired investment banks Houlihan Lokey and Nomura to facilitate the sale, has received some approaches from potential buyers. One source said Jamieson could go for a multiple of 12 to 14 times EBITDA.
Altas Partners LP completed a US$1 billion fundraise, the firm announced. The fund, Altas Partners Holdings LP, was oversubscribed and closed at its hard cap. Toronto-based Altas pursues a long-term strategy that involves investing in only one or two businesses each year, thereby allowing the investor to hold assets for more than 10 years. The Altas portfolio currently consist of three companies, including Grenada-based St. George’s University.
Clearspring Capital Partners has secured $260 million for its third private equity fund, Clearspring Capital Partners III, earmarked for investments in mid-market companies in Canada. It is the largest fund in the Toronto-based firm’s 14-year history, bringing total assets under management to more than $500 million.
European tourism group TUI has agreed a deal to sell its Hotelbeds unit to private equity group Cinven and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for 1.191 billion euros (US$1.35 billion) in cash, Reuters reported. TUI put its Hotelbeds unit, which sells hotels rooms to wholesale customers such as travel agencies and tour operators, up for sale because it didn't fit with its other tour operating, cruise and hotel businesses. The deal, expected to close in September, will see U.K.-based Cinven and CPPIB acquire equal stakes in the company.
Pacific Exploration & Production Corp and its units filed for protection from creditors in Canada after failing to cope with a prolonged slump in oil prices, Reuters reported. The Toronto-based company, formerly known as Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp, said it had filed for creditor protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, an insolvency law that allows businesses to restructure their finances and stay in business. Pacific Exploration reached a deal with debt-holders, including Canadian private equity firm Catalyst Capital Group, last week to convert almost all of its debt to equity.
U.S. private equity firm Blackstone Group LP is considering a takeover of Canadian drug developer Concordia Healthcare Corp, Reuters reported, citing a story by Bloomberg. The talks are at an early stage and a deal may not happen, Bloomberg said. Last year, Concordia acquired London, U.K.-based Amdipharm Mercury Ltd for US$3.3 billion. The deal gave Amdipharm backer Cinven, a European private equity firm, a minority interest in Concordia.
U.S. private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners LP is in advanced talks to acquire Give and Go Prepared Foods Corp, a Canadian maker of thaw-and-serve sweet baked goods such as Two-Bite Brownies, sources told Reuters. OMERS Private Equity, the buyout arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, which owns Give and Go Prepared Foods, has granted Thomas H. Lee exclusivity in its negotiations in order to reach a deal, the sources said. OMERS bought the company from Canadian private equity firm Kilmer Capital Partners in 2007.
Pacific Exploration and Production Corp has reached a deal with debt-holders, including Catalyst Capital Group, to convert almost all of its debt to equity as it looks to fight a prolonged slump in oil prices, Reuters reported. About US$5.3 billion of the company's debt will be exchanged for 58.2 percent of its common shares under the restructuring deal, Toronto-based Pacific Exploration said. Catalyst has agreed to provide half of the US$500 million in debtor-in-possession financing and will own a 29.3 percent stake in the restructured business.