Canadian buyout firm Onex Corp. has agreed to acquire Nielsen Expositions from parent organization Nielsen Holdings N.V. for US$950 million. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2013. Nielsen Expositions, of San Juan Capistrano, California, operates more than 65 business-to-business trade shows and conference events every year. Onex Partners III, Onex’s US$4.7 billion private equity fund, will invest approximately US$350 million of equity in the transaction.

Anaheim, California-based RSI Home Products Inc. has completed a bond transaction which raised US$525 million in 5-year senior secured second lien notes. Funds generated by the transaction will be used in part to purchase the 50 percent equity stake held by Canadian buyout firm Onex Corp. Onex announced it has received proceeds totaling US$471 million, which accounts for the company buyback and prior distributions, from its original investment in RSI.

Canadian buyout firm Onex Corp. has completed its sale of a 50 percent interest in RSI Home Products Inc. back to the Anaheim, California-based company. Proceeds from the transaction totaled US$323 million. Onex first invested in RSI in 2008. With the company buyback finalized, Onex announced it has received proceeds of US$471 million, including prior distributions, which results in a multiple of invested capital of approximately 1.5 times and an 11% rate of return.

In a surprise, the U.S. M&A market seems quite steady. There were 101 U.S. announced deals this week (Nov. 25 to Nov. 30), valued at $32.9 billion, according to data from Thomson Reuters. This compares to last year, when there were 82 U.S. announced mergers from Nov. 20 to Nov. 26 (the last full week of November), totaling about $24.5 billion.

Canadian private equity company Onex Corp. will pay $2.3 billion to acquire USI, a provider of insurance brokerage services, Onex announced Monday. The deal is expected to close by the end of 2012. Founded in 1994, USI is based in Briarcliff Manor, New York and has more than 3,300 employees. Under the terms of the deal, an equity investment of approximately $700 million will be made by Onex Partners III, in which Onex is a 25% limited partner; Onex as a co-investor in the transaction; and USI’s employees, the firm said in a statement.

After 17 years with Onex Corp., Sheiner to start his new firm, Altas Partners.

Tomkins, which is backed by Onex Corp. and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, has agreed to sell its Schrader division to Madison Dearborn Partners. The sale price is $505 million cash, plus a small minority equity interest in the parent of the purchasing company. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter. Schrader [...]

Some big name PE firms are lining up for chemical maker Dupont’s car paints business auction–but will is financing too tight to keep any single LBO shop from making a $4 billion deal?

Hamilton Robinson Capital Partners LLC generated a healthy return in its sale of Davis-Standard, a company that makes machines that make plastic packaging, to ONCAP, a company owned by the publicly traded Canadian investment firm Onex Corp., sister magazine Buyouts reported earlier today. The Stamford, Conn.-based buyout firm sold the company to ONCAP for $189 [...]

Just a short update on the auction of AXA PE.

Onex Corp. is teaming up with Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, the Canadian pension plan, to make a bid for AXA PE, two sources say. KKR is still interested while several sources confirm that BlackRock has dropped out.

peHUB, earlier this month, reported that BlackRock was no longer involved in the auction.

Pricing for AXA PE is aggressive and has caused some “natural players” to bow out, one banker says. The Carlyle Group, which agreed to buy a 60% stake in AlpInvest Partners earlier this year, was expected to vie for AXA PE.