Co-investment opportunities have lately gained in popularity among institutional investors and other limited partners with increased leverage in private equity funds. As it happens, co-investments have also proved appealing to many PE fund sponsors. Torys LLP believes there is every reason to expect this trend to accelerate in 2015.
Many private equity firms have reliable playbooks for creating value in their portfolio companies. But a new report from Deloitte suggests that there are things investors can still learn about active management. The report focuses on working capital and how businesses and their PE investors may be overlooking cash value hidden deep in an organization's financial management system.
Lululemon Athletica Inc founder Chip Wilson said he is quitting the board of directors of the yogawear retailer, hit nearly two years ago by a major recall, because the company was back on track with a strong management team, Reuters reported. In 2014, Wilson sold about half of his interest in the Vancouver-based company to U.S. private equity firm Advent International for US$845 million. A spokesman for Wilson said he has no plans to trim his remaining 13.75 percent stake.
CRH has agreed to pay 6.5 billion euros (US$7.4 billion) for assets from rivals Lafarge and Holcim, in a deal that will transform the Irish company into the world's third-biggest building materials supplier, Reuters reported. CRH beat a consortium led by Blackstone, according to people familiar with the matter. Reuters previously reported that Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) was part of Blackstone's bidding group.
Canadian coffee and doughnut chain Tim Hortons confirmed this week it will cut jobs as it reorganizes after being acquired by U.S. fast food chain Burger King for $12.64 billion last year, Reuters reported. Tim Hortons declined to provide exact figures on the number of employees to be affected, saying it is still in the process of reorganizing.
A Qatari-led consortium looked set to win its long-running battle to buy Songbird Estates Plc after the owner of London's Canary Wharf business district dropped its opposition to the US$4 billion offer, Reuters reported. The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Brookfield Property Partners launched an offer direct to Songbird shareholders in December, hoping to add a financial district rivaling the City of London to landmarks already in its portfolio.
Canadian wireless startup Mobilicity has said it will participate in an upcoming government auction of airwaves, Reuters reported. The company said some of its backers have now agreed to put up the roughly $65 million it needs to buy a seat at the table in the auction of high-frequency spectrum, set to be held in March.
A consortium that includes Canadian asset management firm InstarAGF Asset Management Inc and fund manager AGF Management sealed a deal to acquire the passenger terminal at Toronto's island airport from Porter Aviation Holdings Inc, Reuters reported. The consortium, called Nieuport Aviation Infrastructure, also includes Kilmer Van Nostrand Co, Swiss private equity firm Partners Group and a group of institutional investors.
Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) has tapped André Bourbonnais as its new president and CEO, effective on March 30, 2015. Bourbonnais takes on the job after more than two decades of experience in high-profile market roles, most recently as senior managing director and global head of private investments at Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), a position he has occupied since 2010.
Struggling Canadian wireless operator Mobilicity will not bid for more airwaves in one upcoming government auction and is trying to secure funding to participate in another, its court-appointed monitor said in a filing on the company's website, Reuters reported. The report also said that Mobilicity has discussed selling itself with several parties and that talks are continuing. Mobilicity is a portfolio investment of U.S. private equity firm Quadrangle Group.