The private equity arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) is mulling a potential sale of Marketwired LP, a company that distributes press releases, sources told Reuters. OMERS Private Equity has been working with Bank of Montreal to explore potential options for Marketwired, which could be valued at as much as US$200 million.
Roots Canada, one of the country's most recognizable clothing brands, said its co-founders have sold a controlling stake in the company to U.S. private equity firm Searchlight Capital Partners to spur the brand's next phase of growth, Reuters reported. Co-founders Michael Budman and Don Green will remain actively involved in the company and will be substantial investors.
Canadian Oil Sands Ltd expects strong interest from a wide range of buyers, its top executive told Reuters, as the company asked shareholders to reject a $4.3 billion takeover offer by Suncor Energy Inc. CEO Ryan Kubik said potential buyers of Canadian Oil Sands may include private equity firms and pension funds.
The Institutional Limited Partners Association’s new template for reporting private equity funds’ fees and expenses itemizes a wide range of costs and details the amount of carried interest general partners collect and accrue, according to a draft of the template seen by Buyouts. ILPA is hopeful that the template will provide some common ground for limited partners, general partners and service providers moving forward.
Antares Capital plans to float about US$1 billion in collateralized loan obligations (CLO) a year starting in the fourth quarter, as it gears up as a unit of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB). CPPIB’s US$12 billion acquisition of Antares from prior owner GE Capital closed earlier this year.
Activist hedge fund Elliott Management Corp disclosed stakes in U.S. video-conferencing equipment maker Polycom Inc and Canadian telecommunications provider Mitel Networks Corp and pushed for a combination of the two, Reuters reported. The hedge fund disclosed a 9.6 percent stake in Mitel, which has a current market value of about $1.1 billion.
Brookfield Asset Management said it would spin off 35 percent of Brookfield Business Partners LP, which will own almost all of the asset manager's business services and industrial operations assets, Reuters reported. The Toronto-based firm said it would spin off the business by distributing a special dividend of about US$500 million, or 50 cents per share, to its shareholders in the form of partnership units.
Bond Capital, recently named one of the world’s top performing mezzanine firms, has closed its fifth fund, earmarked for private debt and equity investments in mid-market companies in Western Canada and Northwestern United States. Vancouver-based Bond tied up Bond Capital Fund V LP in excess of $80 million in committed capital, which is more than twice the size of its predecessor.
Glencore is in talks with a Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund and China's state-backed COFCO, along with Canadian pension funds, to sell a stake in its agricultural assets, sources told Reuters. Glencore is said to be creating a legal entity for the assets involved, expected to be mostly those inherited from the $6.1 billion purchase of Canadian grain handler Viterra in 2012.
Bombardier Inc is in discussions with the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, which manages Québec's public pension plans, on a deal that could inject more cash into the troubled plane and train maker, sources told Reuters. One source said the Caisse, already one of Bombardier's biggest shareholders, was contemplating taking a larger stake in the Montréal-based company.