Two Canadian private equity firms expect to see windfall earnings from Killick Aerospace's forthcoming sale of four aviation support businesses to VSE Corp. The deal promises an especially strong return to Killick Aerospace’s majority investor, Killick Capital, a private equity firm based in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador that was founded by former CHC Helicopter chairman Mark Dobbin.
Irish cement maker CRH and a consortium led by U.S. private equity firm Blackstone are battling for assets which Lafarge and Holcim must sell ahead of their planned merger, sources told Reuters. One source said CRH has bid almost 6 billion euros (US$6.8 billion), while the Blackstone group, which also includes Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and Cinven, has bid 5.5 billion euros (US$6.3 billion).
Total volume in the global secondary market hit US$49.3 billion last year, a 37 percent increase from 2013, according to a report from Toronto-based intermediary Setter Capital. A total of 1,270 deals were done, with an average size of US$37.7 million, Setter said. Deal size was up 34.6 percent from the prior year.
Imaginea Energy has completed its first disclosed add-on acquisition, picking up West Valley Energy from two U.S. private equity firms. According to data provided by Thomson Reuters, Calgary's Imaginea, which last year received a sizeable equity commitment from Lime Rock Partners, bought West Valley in December 2014.
Another China Investment Corp (CIC) private equity veteran has moved into the private sector. Olivia Ouyang, a former private equity executive at CIC, has joined the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan in Hong Kong as director of funds and co-investments, according to pension plan's website and a person with knowledge of the situation.
Canadian private equity firm Onex Corp's buyout of U.K. safety and survival equipment maker Survitec will be backed with around 300 million pounds (US$457 million) of leveraged loans, banking sources said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Onex agreed to buy Survitec this week from Warburg Pincus.
Torys LLP has released its much-anticipated M&A Top Trends 2015 report. Of course, the state of mergers and acquisitions is always of importance to private equity and venture capital investors, especially now that dealmaking in Canada is on the upswing. For this reason, Torys has identified some key report findings that will be of particular interest to them.
The owner of London's Canary Wharf financial district advised its investors to reject a Qatari-led US$4 billion takeover bid on Monday, saying the offer undervalued the company and its prospects, Reuters reported. Songbird Estates Plc said the 350 pence per share cash offer from Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Canadian investor Brookfield Property Partners LP did not reflect the value of its property or growth potential.
Canadian private equity firm Persistence Capital Partners has completed a new investment in mdBriefCase, an online continuing health education company. The deal, the financial terms of which were not released, is the fifth done in the past twelve months by the Montréal-based firm. It is also the fifth platform investment of its second mid-market healthcare partnership, Persistence Capital Partners II LP, which completed an initial close in 2013.
By all accounts, 2014 will be a banner year for Canada's private equity market. The whole story will be told when Thomson Reuters publishes its year-end market report in the coming weeks. In the meantime, peHUB Canada has compiled a list of the likely top 10 (disclosed) Canadian deals in 2014. As expected, the Tim Hortons' merger topped the list, however, as peHUB Canada reported in December, many of the biggest transactions were located in the energy industry.