Q-News

October 2009

M&A News - September 2009

Posted in M&A News

September was a relatively busy month in terms of M&A deal flow.  Eight of the 10 transactions this month were of the cross border variety.  Among these, there were three headlines involving the private equity arms of large Canadian pension funds, as well as a transaction where two traditional Canadian PE shops acquired an Ontario-based manufacturer of custom garments.  The other Canadian-based acquisition targets this month were comprised of three technology companies, a specialty retailer and a financially distressed manufacturer of anti-terrorism equipment.

 

 

Canadian M&A Transactions:

 

Vancouver telecommunication giant Telus acquired Markham-based Black’s Photo and its 113 retail outlets for $28 million.

 

Two Toronto-based PE shops, Ironbridge Equity Partners and Westerkirk Capital, acquired Gaspard & Sons, a Manitoba-based manufacturer of custom garments and regalia. 

 

 

Cross Border M&A:

 

NowPublic, a Vancouver-based media platform for participatory news-gathering, was acquired by Colorado-based Examiner.com, which operates a similar platform but with a focus on local/regional news.

 

The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) was a part of the investment group which announced that it was buying Skype from eBay.   The deal values the Luxembourg-based VoIP provider at $2.75 billion. 

 

The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) was one of the financial buyers backing the acquisition of Aricent, a California-based communications equipment maker, from Singapore-based Flextronics. 

 

LogTech Canada, a Calgary company developing software for the petroleum industry, was acquired for $3.3 million by IHS (NYSE: IHS), a Colorado-based company providing critical technical information, decision-support tools, and consulting services primarily to the energy industry.

 

California-based Sabse has added enhanced voice-activated functionality to its already-existing telephony-as-a-service (TAAS) platform by acquiring Montreal’s Mobivox.

 

Markham’s Pet Valu (TSX: PVC), a specialty retailer focused on pet food and related products, was taken private by Roark Capital, an Atlanta-based private equity shop.

 

Versa Capital Management of Philadelphia announced that it is privatizing Allen Vanguard through an out-of-court restructuring that will give it full ownership of the Ottawa-based manufacturer of anti-terrorism equipment.

 

Teacher’s Private Capital is one of the funds taking up the new equity being raised by Simmons, the Atlanta-based mattress manufacturer, as it attempts to exit Chapter 11 creditor protection.  The proposed restructuring and recapitalization, which still needs to be approved by the creditors and bankruptcy court, will wipe out the existing equity held by THL Partners. 

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