A Rona home improvement store in St. Eustache, Que., just outside Montreal, is shown on Thursday, July 16, 2015.Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press
It's official, we are in an initial public offering dry spell, but perhaps we all need a break from IPOs anyway (scroll to the end to see why). Mergers and acquisitions and private equity moves are still going strong though, with lots of firms making deals for self-improvement.
DEAL OF THE DAY:
Magna to buy Germany's Getrag for $2.5-billion
Following from anticipation earlier this week, Magna International Inc. has pulled the trigger on the biggest acquisition in its history, buying transmission maker Getrag group of Germany for $2.5-billion.The joint venture is meant to "provide significant growth potential in China," said Magna's chief executive officer Don Walker, which is a key growth market for Magna amid the collapse of sales in Russia and a significant slowdown in vehicle production in Brazil. The Getrag deal is expected to close at the end of the year. Full story
MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
Rona buys back franchised stores, simplifies retail network
Rona Inc. has bought back 20 franchise stores in its retail network – 18 in Quebec and two in the Ottawa area for an undisclosed price. They include 17 big-box stores and three smaller outlets. Rona says it will compete more effectively with large U.S. rivals by eliminating its franchise structure. Full story
EBay sells off its warehouse and logistics operation
Ebay Inc. has sold its enterprise unit for $925-million (U.S.) to a consortium led by the private equity firm Permira. The deal was reported alongside the company's second-quarter results, which saw its operating profit rise 9 per cent, though its final profit fell $83-million. EBay had said in January that it would explore a sale or public offering of the enterprise business, which did not fit neatly with its PayPal or marketplace divisions. Full story
Northern Frontier buys Black Diamond's construction services operation
Black Diamond Group Ltd. has announced a divestiture of its construction services operation to Northern Frontier Corp. for a total consideration of $9.8-million, with the transaction expected to close on July 31. The transaction is expected to add in the range of $2-million to $5-million annually to the corporation's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Full story
KPMG acquires human resources service from Towers Watson
KPMG in Canada, together with other member firms of KPMG International, has entered into an agreement with Towers Watson to acquire the company's human resources service delivery practice. In addition to KPMG in Canada, other KPMG member firms have acquired Towers Watson's HRSD practice resources in the United States, United Kingdom, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Philippines. The transaction is expected to close in the coming weeks. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Full story
ACCEO makes third acquisition in two months
ACCEO Solutions Inc., an information technology and business solutions company, has announced its acquisition of both the Canadian and American assets of Gemmar Systems International Inc., a Quebec-based provider of retail management technology solutions. This is ACCEO's third acquisition in recent weeks – it earlier purchased Julo LLC, a provider of recreational facilities and services, and Multipost Ltd., a developer of point-of-sale terminal software. Full story
Groupon buys food ordering service in a move to diversify
Groupon Inc. has acquired OrderUp, an on-demand food ordering and delivery marketplace in a move to diversify the company away from its origins as a daily deals site. The value of the transaction was not disclosed. Full story
PRIVATE EQUITY AND VENTURE CAPITAL
Klass feeling good about its investment in Docebo, goes for some more
Venture capital firm Klass Capital has increased its stake in Docebo SpA, an Italian cloud e-learning solutions provider. After providing $3-million (U.S.) in funding to the company in February, Klass Capital has now acquired the shares of angel investor Seeweb. The acquisition's value was not disclosed. Full story
Ethoca raises $45-million via U.S. private equity
Ethoca, a technology solutions company, announced that it has raised $45-million (U.S.) in minority growth equity investment led by U.S. private equity firm Spectrum Equity. Ethoca said it plans to use the partnership with Spectrum to accelerate the next phase of its global expansion and deliver new collaboration-based services. Full story
Flipagram raises $70-million
Flipagram, an Instagram-like platform for video, announced that it has closed a $70-million (U.S.) round of financing led by Sequoia and joined by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Index Ventures. In conjunction with the financing announcement, Flipagram also said that it has struck deals with leading music labels and publishers to create a catalogue of music for Flipagram users to use as soundtracks to their video stories. Full story
PEOPLE MOVES
Bombardier names Pratt & Whitney Canada executive as new CFO
Bombardier Inc. said Pratt & Whitney Canada's John Di Bert has been named its chief financial officer, replacing Pierre Alary, who announced his retirement in April. Mr. Di Bert, who was most recently vice-president of customer service at Pratt & Whitney's Canadian unit, will take up his new post on Aug. 10. Full story
TMX Group names Nicholas Thadaney as new CEO of Global Equity Capital Markets
TMX Group Ltd. announced that it has named Nicholas Thadaney to head global equity capital markets effective Sept. 1. Mr. Thadaney, who will report to TMX Group's chief executive officer, will be responsible for all of TMX Group's equity listing and trading activity. Full story
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Sleep Country Canada born again on the TSX with $300-million IPO
Canada's largest mattress retailer recently issued 17.6 million shares, raising about $300-million. On its first day of trading under the ticker "ZZZ," its shares fell 5 per cent to close at $16.15, down from an opening price of $17, making it the third Canadian company this month to lose value after a debut. Full story
Know of any coming deals we should cover? Have suggestions for making the Daily Deal Roundup more useful? E-mail me at deals@globeandmail.com. I'll respond personally to every e-mail.