A consortium of private equity firm TPG Capital LP and Chinese conglomerate Fosun International Ltd is in the final stages of negotiations to acquire Cirque du Soleil, sources told Reuters. The company's founder Guy Laliberté is expected to keep a 10 percent stake, while the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is also expected to be a minority investor, the sources said.
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) said it is concerned about the Saskatchewan government's decision to temporarily ban certain institutional investors from buying farmland in the province, Reuters reported. In 2013, CPPIB purchased the Saskatchewan cropland assets of Assiniboia Farmland for $128 million.
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec plans to commit billions of dollars more to direct deals in the years ahead, signalling a continuing shift in strategy for one of the world’s largest private equity investors. Andreas Beroutsos, who heads the Caisse’s global PE group, said the overall PE portfolio will increase to about $35 billion over the next four to five years. This will be achieved to a significant extent by earmarking more dollars for solo deals, co-sponsorships and co-investments.
Cirque du Soleil is in advanced talks with two private equity consortia about selling a majority stake in what is the largest theatrical production company in the world, sources told Reuters. A consortium of CVC Capital Partners and Providence Equity Partners, as well as a pairing of TPG and China's Fosun, are in negotiations with the company's owner Guy Laliberté in an effort to clinch a deal, the sources said.
U.S. oil and gas company Apache Corp said it would exit its exploration and production business in Australia by selling its unit in the country to a consortium of private equity funds for US$2.1 billion in cash, Reuters reported. The sale of Apache Energy Ltd to a consortium of funds managed by Macquarie Capital Group Ltd and Brookfield Asset Management Inc has an effective date of Oct. 1, 2014.
Business software maker Informatica Corp said it would be bought for about US$5.3 billion by private equity firms Permira Funds and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, in the biggest U.S. leveraged buyout so far this year, Reuters reported. The deal follows a report that another partnership of Thoma Bravo LLC and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan had also submitted bids for the U.S. company.
U.S. enterprise software company Informatica Corp has received offers from two private equity consortia and is negotiating a sale that could value it at between US$5 billion and US$6 billion, sources told Reuters. Permira Advisers Ltd in a consortium with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and Thoma Bravo LLC, in partnership with Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, submitted bids for the company last week, the sources said.
Royal Bank of Canada topped Canadian equity issuances in the first quarter, lifted by a surge in financings for energy companies looking to beef up their balance sheets in the face of sluggish oil prices, Reuters reported. Thomson Reuters figures also showed that Canadian mergers and acquisitions climbed nearly 19 percent to US$40.6 billion in the first quarter, reflecting an improving global environment for deals.
Canadian private equity firm Imperial Capital Group and OPTrust Private Markets Group have again joined forces, this time to complete an investment in Ackerman Security Systems, a U.S. home alarm monitoring specialist. A person with knowledge of the deal told peHUB Canada that it values the company at about US$150 million.
The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan , one of Canada's biggest investors, said it is actively scouting for energy assets as it looks to trim positions in oil and gas derivatives and invest instead directly in producing assets, Reuters reported. Earlier this month, the pension plan bought a working interest in the Weyburn Unit, a Saskatchewan-based oil asset, for $153.4 million.