Irish cement maker CRH has teamed up with Mexican rival Cemex to explore a bid for all the assets Lafarge and Holcim must sell to get the go-ahead for their planned merger from competition watchdogs, sources told Reuters. They will compete against other strategic investors and at least four consortia of private equity firms, sources said. Canada's Onex Corp and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board were said to be part of different investor groups.
In 2006, David Rogers left his job as the head of the private equity group at Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System to pursue a long-cherished ambition. The result was Caledon Capital Management, a Canadian portfolio management and advisory firm that provides institutional investors with new ways of accessing private equity and infrastructure. Seven years on, Caledon has emerged as a major player on the global institutional LP landscape, overseeing client assets of more than $5 billion.
Iamgold Corp has agreed to sell its niobium mine in Québec to a group of companies led by Canadian investment firm Magris Resources Inc for US$500 million in cash, to focus on its core gold mining business, Reuters reported. The deal is one of a handful of private equity investments in the mining sector, and indicates that these firms are still keen on finding bargains in an industry that has been battered by a broad slide in metal prices.
The value of Canadian mergers and acquisitions more than doubled to US$149.8 billion in the first nine months of 2014, fueled by robust deal activity in the energy sector, according to figures released by Thomson Reuters, Reuters reported. Rising levels of production, a weak Canadian dollar and strong earnings have driven growth in the oil and gas industry. RBC Capital Markets led the pack advising for M&A deals as well as debt issuance, league tables data showed.
An affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management won the auction for Atlantic City's bankrupt Revel Casino Hotel with a US$110 million bid, but the losing bidder told Reuters he planned to fight the sale. The auction for the shuttered hotel and casino, which cost US$2.4 billion to build, concluded early Wednesday. Asked if he would challenge the result in court, Florida developer Glenn Straub said: "Absolutely."
The $227 billion Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) expects to invest more in private equity funds this year as the pension system faces a challenging environment for returns and high purchase price multiples in the deal market. André Bourbonnais, senior managing director and global head of private investments, said CPPIB is trending between $4.5 billion to $5 billion in private equity investments this year with commitments to 12 to 15 funds, including a mix of new and existing managers in both developed and emerging markets.
Imperial Capital Group has invested in MRO Corp, a U.S. disclosure management and health information exchange. The Toronto-based mid-market private equity firm has of late found particular success in the North American healthcare industry. In fact, MRO is the firm’s sixth investment in this space in the last six years, and its fourth since early 2013.
An affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management has topped Florida real estate developer Glenn Straub's US$90 million bid for the bankrupt Revel Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, Reuters reported citing a recent Wall Street Journal story. Brookfield currently owns the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas.
Spie, a company that dates back to the construction of the Paris Metro rail network more than a century ago, plans to raise up to about 1.2 billion euros (US$1.5 billion) in a stock market offering that could value it at as much as 2.75 billion euros, Reuters reported. The energy services company said proceeds will be used to cut debt, increase financial flexibility and pursue its growth strategy. Spie is currently majority owned by private equity firms Ardian and Clayton Dublier & Rice, along with the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.
Canada's largest natural gas producer Encana Corp said on Monday it has agreed to buy Athlon Energy for US$5.93 billion in cash, as it accelerates its plan to focus on more lucrative oil and natural-gas liquids, Reuters reported. The takeover will lead to a huge payday for Apollo Global Management. The Fort Worth, Texas-based Athlon was formed in 2010 with the backing of the U.S. private equity firm that still owns over 30 percent of the company's stock.