Canada’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Association, in conjunction with Canadian Dealmakers, in conjunction with Canadian Dealmakers is pleased to announce that CPP Investment Board is the recipient of the 2009 Canadian Dealmakers Private Equity Award and TorQuest Partners is the recipient of the 2009 Canadian Dealmakers Mid Market Private Equity Award.Both companies are long standing members of the CVCA.
In November 2009, the founding partners of the Canadian Dealmakers Awards Program, Deloitte, Lexpert, The Globe and Mail and Thomson Reuters, invited the CVCA to co-sponsor Dealmakers Awards specific to private equity and venture capital.
These awards complement a larger suite of honours given annually by the Canadian Dealmakers Awards Program – the only awards program honouring Canadian businesses that have created significant value through mergers and acquisitions. The program is unique in that it recognizes the multiple stakeholders involved in the front-end of transactions, including the companies, capital providers and advisors. Unlike the CVCA’s two longstanding awards that are measured on success at exit or realization, the Dealmakers Awards focus on the acquisition phase of investments. They measure and reward superior deal thesis, complexity, innovation and active management or governance.
Dealmakers Private Equity Award Winner
“It is my pleasure to announce that CPP Investment Board and its team of advisors won this year’s Dealmakers Private Equity award for its acquisition of Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group (MCG)”, said Richard Kinlough, Chairman of CVCA’s Awards Committee and Managing Director, Group Head, CIT Corporate Finance, Canada, “CPPIB acquired MCG and a related Macquarie Bank management entity for approximately CAD$2.1 billion in equity, representing a total enterprise value of approximately CAD$7.3 billion.”
The honour was accepted by Daniel Fetter, Senior Principal, CPP Investment Board at the Canadian Dealmakers Awards Gala held in Toronto last night.
Based in Sydney, Australia, MCG was a publicly listed Macquarie Bank managed fund focused on acquiring, owning and managing infrastructure assets in Australia and the UK. In this highly complex transaction, the CPPIB was not only the sole investing party, but had to work to an extremely short 45-day transaction timeline to provide a binding offer. The CPPIB had to perform full onsite due diligence on three assets, in two countries, with deal team members (12) and advisors (150) working across three continents. In addition to the deal being subject to shareholder approval, the CPPIB also had to obtain numerous court, regulatory, and antitrust approvals to consummate the transaction.
The transaction was consistent with the CPPIB’s strategy of investing in high quality infrastructure assets that provide stable long-term cash flows and operate in predictable regulatory environments. In addition, the acquisition was attractive as it provided the CPPIB a unique opportunity to acquire a diversified portfolio of core infrastructure assets in a single step and at a very attractive multiple.
Dealmakers Mid Market Private Equity Award Winner
“It is my pleasure to announce that TorQuest Partners and its team of advisors is the recipient of the Dealmakers Mid Market Private Equity award for its roll-up of the highly fragmented “disaster restoration services” industry into the only national platform of its kind in Canada, called Firstonsite Restoration.,” said Richard Kinlough.
Alan Lever, a Partner at TorQuest, accepted the award at the Canadian Dealmakers Awards Gala held in Toronto last night.
Prior to the creation of Firstonsite, customers in the restoration industry (insurance providers, brokers and adjusters) had increasingly consolidated to national platforms, while the restoration industry remained largely fragmented. To capitalize on this industry void, TorQuest envisioned the creation of a national disaster restoration company to meet the national needs of the industry’s customer base.
Firstonsite was formed by TorQuest in February 2007 through the merger of two leading regional disaster restoration firms. Over the next 24 months, Firstonsite acquired an additional 14 regional disaster restoration firms, reaching its goal of becoming a true national restoration service provider in 2009. It now operates through seven regional hubs with offices in 38 cities across Canada.
Message from CVCA’s President
“The CVCA is very pleased to be playing a significant role as a Supporting Sponsor to the Canadian Dealmakers Awards Programs” said Gregory Smith, President of the CVCA. “I’d like to congratulate our Dealmakers Private Equity Awards winners tonight. The two winners and the multiple stakeholders involved in their respective deals, clearly created significant value in the acquisition phase of their investments”.
About CVCA
The CVCA – Canada’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Association, was founded in 1974 and is the association that represents Canada’s venture capital and private equity industry. Its over 1800 members are firms and organizations which manage the majority of Canada’s pools of capital designated to be committed to venture capital and private equity investments. The CVCA fosters professional development, networking, communication, research and education within the venture capital and private equity sector and represents the industry in public policy matters.