Iris Dorbian
Canadian investor CDPQ has agreed to acquire a 15 percent stake in AES US Investments, an AES subsidiary that owns the Indianapolis Power & Light Company, for $244 million. According to terms of the deal, CDPQ will invest about $349 million in IPALCO through 2016 for a 17.65 percent stake.
Cott Corp. has closed its buy of DSS Group, parent company of DS Services. The price of the transaction was about $1.25 billion. The sellers include Crestview Partners. Headquartered in Atlanta, DS Services is a provider of bottled water, office coffee and water filtration services.
PHD Equity Partners, the fund management arm of the Dow Schofield Watts Group, has raised 16.5 million pounds in the first close of its second private equity fund. Fund 2's target is 25 million pounds. The pool will focus on investing in established smaller UK firms.
Thoma Bravo and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan have agreed to buy San Francisco-based enterprise tech firm Riverbed Technology for $21 per share at a value of about $3.6 billion.
KKR and Suez Environnement subsidiary United Water, which provides water and environmental services, have agreed to provide $43 million to Pennsylvania-based Middletown Borough Authority.
First Read kicks off your week with news of a hostage standoff in Sydney, Sony Pictures demands news outlets do not publish their hacked e-mails and an investor group led by BC Partners agrees to epic $8.7 billion acquisition of PetSmart.
Midway Industrial Supply, which is owned by by Generation Growth Capital, has bought Contrast Equipment Company. No financial terms were disclosed; however, Anchor Bank provided the senior financing for the transaction. Based in Kansas City, Missouri, Contrast Equipment is a finishing equipment system integrator.
Levine Leichtman Capital Partners has closed a dividend recap of portfolio company Lawn Doctor. According to LLCP, the transaction increased Lawn Doctor's senior credit facility to $22 million. Madison Capital Funding provided the senior credit facility. Based in New Jersey, Lawn Doctor is a lawn care franchisor.
Philadelphia-based financial services firm Janney Montgomery Scott has promoted Cliff K. Booth and Joseph D. Culley, Jr. to investment banking co-heads. Prior to joining Janney, Booth headed the financial institutions investment banking group at Ferris, Baker Watts and in the real estate investment banking group of First Union Securities (now Wells Fargo Securities). And, previously, Culley was on Philadelphia Securities Association's board of governors.
Metaldyne Performance Group, which is owned by American Securities, has raised $150 million for its IPO after pricing its 10 million shares at $15 per share. The stock began trading Friday on the NYSE under the ticker symbol "MPG." BofA Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank Securities, Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) and RBC Capital Markets are the lead underwriters. Headquartered in Plymouth, Michigan, MPG is a provider of powertrain components.