Bankers are preparing debt financing packages of around US$400.7 million to back private equity firm Warburg Pincus' potential sale of U.K. survival equipment company Survitec Group, sources told Reuters. Potential buyers that have made it through to a second round of bidding in an auction process include Blackstone and partner Safariland. Other buyout firms close to the process include Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Onex Corp, sources said.
Canadian mid-market private equity firm Novacap has not yet begun broad marketing of its fourth traditional industries fund, Novacap Industries IV LP. It has nonetheless already managed a first close that puts it within close reach of its target. Earlier this month, Fund IV secured $300 million in institutional capital commitments, which represents nearly 71 percent of the $425 million targeted in total.
Billionaire investor William Ackman has turned up the heat on Allergan Inc, accusing the U.S. Botox maker’s board of misleading investors to fend off a hostile takeover bid from Canada's Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Reuters reported. Ackman's hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management is Allergan’s biggest shareholder. Ackman has been working with Valeant for months to push the Botox maker into selling itself to Valeant. Allergan has steadfastly refused, calling Valeant’s offer too low.
Canada Goose Inc, a maker of luxury winter down jackets, expects double-digit sales growth going forward and is forecasting revenue this year to be well over $200 million, Reuters reported. Last year, the Toronto-based manufacturer sold a majority stake to Boston-based private equity firm Bain Capital for an undisclosed amount to help meet its growth ambitions. Canada Goose's CEO said the deal has helped facilitate expansion.
Some of the world's largest pension funds and infrastructure investors are forming consortia to bid for the operator of an Indiana toll road that filed for bankruptcy last month, sources told Reuters. Different investor groups are said to include Brookfield Asset Management, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System. A transaction will likely value ITR Concession Co LLC, the operator of the toll road, at between US$4 billion and US$5 billion.
British investment firm Melrose Industries Plc said on Saturday it had agreed to sell its Bridon division to the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan in a 365 million-pound (US$587 million) deal, Reuters reported. Melrose said it expected the sale of Bridon, which supplies ropes used in mines, would be completed before the end of 2014, subject to anti-trust clearances.
Canada’s largest mid-market private equity firm is gearing up for its next billion-dollar fund, peHUB Canada has learned. Birch Hill Equity Partners, which this year celebrates its twentieth anniversary, plans to roll out its fifth fund, Birch Hill Equity Partners V LP, in coming weeks. While a target size has not yet been set, the firm said it will likely approximate the $1.04 billion raised by Fund IV in 2011.
Canadian energy company Seven Generations Energy hopes to raise around $800 million from its initial public offering (IPO), according to documents filed with SEDAR. The Calgary-based company, which is backed by Canadian and U.S. private equity firms, anticipates an offering price of between $17 and $21 per common share on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Energy services group Spie has pulled its plan to raise funds on the stock market, cancelling what would have been France's biggest listing since before the financial crisis as investor appetite wanes, Reuters reported. The company, owned by private equity firms Ardian and Clayton Dubilier & Rice and Canadian pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, had set a price range of 15-18.30 euros a share. New and existing shares for sale were worth up to 1.2 billion euros (US$1.5 billion).
French energy services firm Spie is struggling to attract investors for its Paris listing amid tough market conditions, sources told Reuters. The company is planning to sell up to 1.2 billion euros (US$1.5 billion) of new and existing shares on the Euronext Paris exchange. It is currently backed by private equity firms Ardian and Clayton Dubilier & Rice, as well as the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.