Brad Meikle
Bill Murray, a director at Canadian private equity firm Regimen Partners, has been appointed an advisor to the board of directors of eQube Gaming Ltd (TSX-V: EQG), an Edmonton-based provider of community and charitable gaming solutions. Murray will formally join the board subject to regulatory approvals. Prior to joining Regimen in 2015, Murray had a 20-year career as an investment banker at several firms, including National Bank Financial. Regimen's recent deals include its January investment in Central Technology Services Corp.
VersaCold Logistic Services has agreed to acquire Coastal Pacific Xpress, a Surrey, B.C.-based refrigerated carrier specializing in the shipping of perishable and ambient products across North America. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which is expected to close in the first half of 2016. The proposed acquisition follows VersaCold's buy last month of Gary Heer Transport Ltd. Based in Vancouver, Versacold is a supply chain solutions company. It is backed by Canadian real estate private equity firm KingSett Capital and Ivanhoé Cambridge, an affiliate of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.
OPTrust, the investor and manager of the OPSEU Pension Plan, has reported net investment income for 2015 of $1.4 billion, resulting in a net 8 percent return. This helped to increase the Toronto-based pension plan's total net assets to $18.4 billion at the end of December, compared to $17.5 billion a year ago. Private equity investments accounted for 9.2 percent of total assets last year, and returned 14.4 percent, according to OPTrust's 2015 financial statements. Infrastructure investments accounted for 12.8 percent of total assets, and returned 7 percent.
Birch Communications Inc has confirmed a previously announced agreement to acquire select assets and customers of Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc, a full-service telecommunications services provider. No financial terms were released. The deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter, will help the Atlanta, GA-based Birch expand its services footprint to include all of the major cities in Canada, the company said. As reported by PE Hub Canada in January, Etobicoke, Ont.-based Primus obtained creditor protection earlier this year. The company was acquired by U.S. private equity firm York Capital Management in a US$129 million deal in mid-2013.
IAM Private Debt Group has announced the provision of a $28 million loan to Data Group Ltd (TSX: DGI), a Brampton, Ontario-based provider of managed business communications services. Data Group, which was recently rebranded as DATA Communications Management, plans to use the loan in the refinancing of its senior credit facilities. IAM Private Debt Group, an affiliate of Canadian alternative assets manager Integrated Asset Management Corp, raised $672 million in the final close of its fifth private corporate debt fund in November 2015.
The Fonds de solidarité FTQ has invested $5 million in Les Serres Lefort Inc, a Ste-Clotilde, Québec-based producer of organic vegetables sold across North America. Founded in 1984 by President Sylvain Lefort, Serres Lefort grows and markets greenhouse vegetables under its VÔG brand. It also accounts for about 65 percent of Québec vegetable transplants for outdoor farmers. The company plans to use the funds provided by the Fonds to help build additional greenhouse capacity. The Fonds said Serres Lefort will by the end of the year be Québec’s largest greenhouse producer on a single site.
Distinct Infrastructure Group Inc (TSX-V: DUG) has acquired Mega Diesel Excavating Ltd, a provider of hydro vac, vacuum truck and excavating services in the Edmonton region. No financial terms were released. Distinct Infrastructure, a Toronto-based utility and telecom infrastructure contractor, said the deal supports it strategy to expand operations and the company's presence in Western Canada. The acquisition is the first completed by Distinct Infrastructure since it received $20 million in subordinated debt funding from Canadian specialty finance firm Crown Capital Partners last November. The funding is also intended to support growth plans focused on Ontario.
D. E. Shaw Renewable Investments (DESRI) has agreed to a strategic financing partnership with Alberta Investment Management Corp (AIMCo). Under the partnership, AIMCo will provide up to US$500 million to support the acquisition of long-term contracted renewable energy assets by DESRI. DESRI, an affiliate of New York-based investment and technology development firm D. E. Shaw Group, has a portfolio of North American projects with about 1,000 megawatts of capacity. Edmonton-based AIMCo manages $90 billion of pension plan and other fund assets.
France's Airbus Group has completed its acquisition of 100 percent of the shares of Navtech Inc, a Waterloo, Ontario-based provider of flight operations solutions. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which was announced in December. Mike Hulley, Navtech's current CEO, will continue to lead the business, Airbus said. Navtech, whose origins stretch back to the 1980s, has been backed by U.S. private equity firm ABRY Partners since 2005, the year the company bought European Aeronautical Group. It also received an investment from Veronis Suhler Stevenson in 2013.
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) said it has agreed to participate in the initial development of Paradise Birmingham, a 1.8 million square-foot, mixed-use project located outside of London, United Kingdom. CPPIB will commit to a 50 percent share of the £150 million ($285 million) first phase of the £1 billion ($1.9 billion) project, which is jointly owned by Hermes Investment Management and Birmingham City Council. The investment by CPPIB will extend the pension fund manager's regional joint venture with Hermes at Leeds’ Wellington Place, announced in 2014.