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Private equity and venture capital news from Canada

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• Ontario Teachers’, Stonebridge Partners acquire Exal Group 06 Apr 2010. Source: AltAssets. An investor consortium led by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has acquired Exal Group, the world’s largest specialty manufacturer of aluminium containers. Terms were not disclosed.

• Hard luck for CVC as it loses out in Camelot auction 26 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners lost out to the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan in the auction to take control of UK National Lottery provider Camelot. The Canadian pension fund will pay £389m (€431.8m) for the company.

• Private equity helps OMERS to bounce back from CAN$8bn loss 02 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) has bounced back from massive recession losses with a CAN$4.3bn ($4.1bn) gain on investment income for 2009, compared to a CAN$8bn ($7.7bn) loss in 2008. One of Canada’s largest retirement funds, OMERS announced a 10.6 per cent rate of return for the year ended December 31 2009, compared with a 15.3 per cent loss for 2008.

• Vancouver Olympics host Intrawest in refinancing talks 02 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. The host for the Winter Olympics is in talks with its lenders over the refinancing of $1.7bn of debt, according to reports. Canada-based resort operator Intrawest Holdings, which is owned by alternative asset manager Fortress Investment, is in discussions with lenders over possible refinancing options.

• Canadian waste-to-biofuel developer Enerkem raises $51m 24 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. Canadian waste-to-biofuel developer Enerkem has raised CAN$53.8m ($51m) in a new round of funding from existing investors Rho Ventures, Braemar Energy Ventures and BDR Capital as well as from new investors Waste Management and Cycle Capital.

• Winter Olympics host Intrawest gets one week reprieve from lenders 19 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. Intrawest, a portfolio company of US private equity firm Fortress Investment Group and owner of one of the host venues for the current Winter Olympics in Canada, has been given a week’s reprieve from creditors before its Whistler Blackcomb asset is forced into a foreclosure auction.

• VC firm Chrysalix Energy’s latest cleantech fund exceeds $100m 17 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. Canadian venture capital firm Chrysalix Energy said its latest clean technology fund has increased to more than $100m with an investment by Oregon Investment Fund, the investment arm of the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund.

• Canadian venture capital falls to 13-year low 17 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. The Canadian venture capital industry suffered its weakest performance in 13 years last year, according to Reuters. 2009 was the worst year for the asset class since the mid-nineties, with investment levels dropping and fewer entrepreneurs receiving funding.

• Sarona holds $12m first close for developing markets FoF 15 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. Sarona Asset Management Inc, a Canadian asset management firm that invests in developing markets, has closed private equity fund of funds Sarona Frontier Markets Fund I on $12m.

• Ontario Teachers fund considers Northumbrian Water takeover 02 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (OTPP) is considering a takeover of the Northumbrian Water company, according to reports. The fund, which is said to have a 27 per cent share of the company, is considering buying the business and taking it private. The deal could fetch an estimated £1.7bn (€1.9bn).

• Fortress's Olympics host company Intrawest sells ski resort 29 Jan 2010. Source: AltAssets. A portfolio company of alternative asset manager Fortress Investment that specialises in mountain resorts has sold off one of its Canadian ski resorts as it moves to refinance its debt. Intrawest, which is providing one of the host venues for next month’s Winter Olympics in Canada, has agreed to sell its Panorama Mountain Village resort  in British Columbia to a newly formed company, known as Panorama Mountain Village Inc.

• Phoenix Equity Partners sells Acorn Care to Canadian pension fund 20 Jan 2010. Source: AltAssets. UK mid-market private equity firm Phoenix Equity Partners has agreed to sell Acorn Care and Education to Teachers’ Private Capital, the private investment arm of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. The deal value was not disclosed but has been estimated at $245m by the Financial Times, with Phoenix making a four times return.

• Canada’s only healthcare-focused PE firm PCP raises CAN$65m 08 Jan 2010. Source: AltAssets. Persistence Capital Partners, a Canadian healthcare-focused private equity firm, has held the second closing of its inaugural fund on CAN$65m ($63m), and expects to wrap up fundraising at the end of this quarter.

• Onex increases commitment to latest fund to $800m 05 Jan 2010. Source: AltAssets. Canadian private equity firm Onex Corporation has increased its commitment to its latest fund from $500m to $800m, citing an attractive near-term investment environment. The move brings the total size of its Onex Partners III fund to $4.3bn, with Onex as the largest investor.

• Canadian growth capital firm Tandem Expansion raises $300m 10 Dec 2009. Source: AltAssets. Tandem Expansion, a private equity firm focused on growth capital for Canadian technology companies, has closed its debut fund on $300m.

• Social dating site Zoosk finds perfect match with investors in $30m round 04 Dec 2009. Source: AltAssets. Zoosk, one of the largest social dating communities, has completed a $30m series D round of funding.  The round was led by newcomer Bessemer Venture Partners, the oldest venture capital practice in the US, with existing investors Canaan Partners and ATA Ventures also participating.

• Marketing agency Cossette accepts renewed offer from PE firm Mill Road Capital 01 Dec 2009. Source: AltAssets. US private equity firm Mill Road Capital has had a revised offer of CAN$8.10 ($7.74) per share accepted by Cossette Inc, a major Canadian marketing and communications company.

• Canadian pension fund Caisse makes $5bn debt offering 26 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, one of Canada’s largest pension funds, has completed a $5bn global debt offering as part of a refinancing programme aimed at  addressing its balance sheet.

• Fund of funds TD Capital spins out, rebrands as Northleaf Capital Partners 25 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. The private equity fund of funds arm of Canada’s TD Bank Financial Group, TD Capital Private Equity Investors, has spun out and rebranded as Northleaf Capital Partners.

• Private equity-backed Nortel’s network assets sell for $769m 23 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. The optical networking and carrier ethernet assets of private-equity backed Canadian telecommunications firm Nortel have sold to Ciena Corporation for $769m, according to reports. The network communications company beat out a bid from Nokia Siemens, who had teamed with private equity firm One Equity Partners, in an auction that ran over the weekend.

• TowerBrook Capital Partners sets up $700m lending firm 20 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. TowerBrook Capital Partners, a London and New York-based private equity firm, has set up a $700m independent commercial lending institution called Haymarket Financial. Haymarket has been launched with capital from two Canadian pension funds and TowerBrook.

• Investors push for bigger concessions in PAI fund cut talks 18 Nov 2009. Limited partners in PAI Partners’ €5.4bn buy-out fund have opposed the firm’s offer to let them halve their commitments, saying it does not go far enough. According to Reuters, a group of investors including the $123.8bn Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the second-largest investor in the fund, are pushing for reductions of up to 63 per cent, which would cut the fund down to €2bn.

• IP address management company BlueCat Networks raises $11m in first venture round 03 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. BlueCat Networks, a provider of IP Address Management (IPAM) platforms, has raised $11m in financing in a round led by California-based investment firm Bridgescale Partners.