A general view of the Sun Life Financial building is seen in Toronto May 6, 2015.Fred Thornhill/Reuters
DEAL OF THE DAY: Sun Life eyes bigger stake in India insurance venture
Canadian insurer Sun Life Financial is interested in raising its stake in its Birla Sun Life Insurance joint venture in India as it weighs several acquisition opportunities in Asia and North America, its top executive said on Thursday. Birla Sun Life is a joint venture with Indian conglomerate Aditya Birla Group and is one of India's biggest insurance companies. Full story
MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
Salesforce Ventures and Microsoft join Informatica buyout
As Informatica closes its $5.3-billion (U.S.) sale to private equity on Thursday, the enterprise software maker will count two of its big technology partners as new investors as well. Joining Permira and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in buying Informatica are Microsoft and Salesforce Ventures. The two will join the biggest leveraged buyout of the year to date, taking ownership stakes in the company, whose products combine and analyze customers' data. Full story
CF Industries to buy businesses from OCI in $6-billion fertilizer deal
CF Industries Holdings Inc said it will buy OCI NV's North American and Dutch plants for about $6-billion (U.S.), nearly 10 months after the U.S. company's merger talks with Yara International ASA fell apart. The deal, which excludes OCI's plants in Egypt and Algeria, is for OCI's nitrogen plants in Geleen in the Netherlands and Wever, Iowa, as well as the company's interest in an ammonia and methanol complex in Beaumont, Texas. Full story
Canaccord M&A head joins Oxford Park
Boutique investment firm Oxford Park Group is adding Barry Goldberg to its senior ranks. Mr. Goldberg, formerly the global head of mergers and acquisitions at Canaccord Genuity, is joining the firm as a principal and will run its credit group, Oxford Park Credit, which will extend loans to small and mid-sized companies. Full story
Colliers International acquires Pointe Group Advisors
Toronto-based commercial real estate services firm Colliers International Group Inc. will acquire Pointe Group Advisors, a commercial real estate services firm specializing in property management, project management and sales and lease brokerage. The acquisition will include a portfolio of more than 7-million sq. ft. of office, industrial and retail space in South Florida and more than 70 professionals operating from two offices in the state. Details of the transaction were not disclosed. Press release
Experis acquires majority stake in Veritaaq
Milwaukee-based Experis, part of the ManpowerGroup, will acquire the majority ownership of Canada's Veritaaq. Veritaaq is one of the largest suppliers of IT consulting services to the federal government with offices in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary. Press release
Novacap expands Canadian deal-making with Hallcon acquisition
Novacap has acquired Hallcon Corp., a specialist in employee transit services, making good on a pledge to expand its pan-Canadian private equity deals through a recently opened office in Toronto. Longueuil, Québec-based Novacap announced on Tuesday that its latest fund, Novacap Industries IV, bought Hallcon in partnership with the company's management team, Export Development Canada, BMO Capital Partners and other investors. No financial terms were released. Full story
Blackstone to acquire Lattice Biologics
Vancouver-based mineral exploration company Blackstone Ventures Inc. has agreed to acquire Lattice Biologics Inc., an emerging medicine company in the field of cellular therapies and tissue engineering, with a focus on bone, skin, and cartilage regeneration. Lattice's headquarters, laboratory and manufacturing facilities are located in Scottsdale, Arizona. Press release
llumina to acquire GenoLogics
San Diego, California-based Illumina Inc. has announced it will acquire GenoLogics Life Sciences Software, a Victoria, B.C. based developer of laboratory information management systems for life sciences organizations. The terms were not disclosed. Press release
Tableau Software buys Infoactive
Tableau Software has acquired Canadian startup Infoactive, based out of Montreal. It will shut down as a result of the acquisition. Its three employees will join Tableau, based in Seattle. Full story
Hutchison, VimpelCom to merge Italian mobile businesses
VimpelCom Ltd. and Hutchison have agreed to combine their Italian mobile operations in a long-awaited deal that would cut the number of players in Europe's fourth-largest telecom market to three from four. A person close to the deal said the new company was valued at around €21.8-billion ($18.3-billion), with Wind's contribution being assets worth €13.9-billion in 2014, while Hutchison had €7.9-billion. Full story
Adidas considers sale of struggling golf brands
German sportswear company Adidas has appointed investment bank Guggenheim Partners to help with the possible sale of its golf brands, which are struggling as the sport loses popularity. Adidas was initially looking into the possible sale of its smaller golf brands Adams and Ashworth, although it was considering all options for the main TaylorMade label for which it also announced a turnaround plan. Full story
PRIVATE EQUITY AND VENTURE CAPITAL
Activist investor Ackman takes $5.5-billion stake in Oreo-maker Mondelez
Activist investor William Ackman's hedge fund has built a stake worth about $5.5-billion (U.S.) in Mondelez International Inc, the maker of Cadbury chocolate and Oreo cookies, in what is seen as an attempt to push the company to grow faster or sell itself. Full story
GreenAngel provides $1-million financing to Lambda Solutions
Vancouver-based GreenAngel Energy Corp. has announced $1-million in revenue-backed financing to Lambda Solutions Inc., a cloud learning management systems company also based in Vancouver. GreenAngel will receive a monthly royalty until a maximum is reached in exchange. Press release
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