SEE WHATS NOTEWORTHY IN PRIVATE EQUITY THIS WEEK /// ISSUE 127 - February 7th, 2014: - Israel Dealmaking Down in 2013 - Montagu Acquires UK Packaging Unit from Rexam - Recaps Attract PE Investors to Improve Fund Performance - Global PE Dealmaking to Accelerate in 2014 - IPO Market Strengthened US Venture Capital Fund Performance in 2013 - Quote of the Week: Ontario Pension Fund Blazes VC Trail

1. DIGEST 127
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Israel Dealmaking Down in 2013
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Global PE Dealmaking to Accelerate in 2014
3
Montagu Acquires UK Packaging Unit from
Rexam
Recaps Attract PE Investors to Improve Fund
Performance
IPO Market Strengthened US Venture Capital
Fund Performance in 2013
Quote of the Week: Ontario Pension Fund
Blazes VC Trail
February 7, 2014

2. ISRAEL DEALMAKING DOWN IN 2013
Private equity dealmaking in Israel was down
significantly, by 39 percent, in 2013 to USD 2.2
billion, according to Reuters, citing the latest IVC
Research Center data. The report said that the
reasons for the decrease include competition
from strategic buyers who offer higher valuations, private equity funds being more focused
on exits, and a cautious investment sentiment.
But new regulations about company ownership are expected to give dealmaking in Israel a
boost in 2014. The IVC said that a large number
of companies are expected to be on the shelf as
a result of Israel’s recent legislation to restrict
economic concentration and holding company structures means that the coming year will offer significant opportunities for PE investment. The largest deal of 2013 was a USD 500 million buyout of Alliance Tire Group by KKR. (Image source: IVC).
MONTAGU ACQUIRES UK PACKAGING
UNIT FROM REXAM
There was a dearth of announcements this week and the buyout deal of the week is not even a one
billion dollar deal, however Montagu Private Equity managed to acquire most of the healthcare packaging business of the British company Rexam for USD 805 million in cash, a transaction that gave the
company shareholders USD 740 million, according to the WSJ. The Rexam business units that were
acquired employ 1,500 people and have sales of GBP 250 million in 2012. Rexam will now focus on
producing beverage cans.
RECAPS ATTRACT PE INVESTORS TO IMPROVE FUND PERFORMANCE
Eased debt markets are being tapped by privateequity firms to pay themselves dividends from the
companies they own, says Private Equity Beat.
“Last year, so-called dividend recapitalization
deals, in which companies take on additional debt
to fund payouts to their private-equity owners,
drove a record USD 66.2 billion of bond and issuance, breaking the previous record of USD 64.2 billion in 2012, according to the blog, citing data from
S&P Capital IQ LCD. The strategy is sometimes
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3. used by private-equity funds to make gains on portfolio holding if they do not find buyers or take
companies public. According to the latest S&P report, Forest Laboratories was the biggest high yield
bond issuer last week in terms of volume with a USD 1.05 billion offering backing the pharmaceutical
concern’s acquisition of Aptalis from TPG Capital. It was one of new issues last week that involved a
private equity concern. One of the PE sponsored deals done last week was a USD 300 million offering
backing ARC Financial’s Seven Generations Energy. (Image source: S&P HighYieldBond.com)
GLOBAL PE DEALMAKING TO ACCELERATE IN 2014
Industry insiders expect an increase in private equity (PE) activity in 2014 with optimism in both business and PE sectors running high, according to a survey of 100 PE firms and 1,600 corporations by EY
and the Economist Intelligence Unit. More positive economic forecasts ( for example a new report from
Grant Thornton is reporting stronger economic growth this year – see graphic), plenty of PE funds
available for deals; and growth in mergers and acquisitions, which often “stoke” PE activity are the
three main drivers of a more bullish outlook for dealmaking in the coming year. The BRICS countries
and emerging markets are expected to attract a good amount of PE money, according to the survey.
Other economies that are interesting to those surveyed are Mexico and Colombia, along with Africa
which is attracting PE investors to open offices there to physically be on the ground and try and make
investments in the Sub Saharan region. (Image Source: Grant Thornton 2014)
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4. IPO MARKET STRENGTHENED US VENTURE CAPITAL FUND PERFORMANCE IN
2013
Venture capital fund performance in the US continued to make gains across most time horizons as of
September 30, 2013, according to the Cambridge Associates LLC U.S. Venture Capital Index and the
National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). Investment horizons (based on quarterly, 1-, 3-, 5-, 1015-year timeframes ) showed higher returns, but there was no change in the 20-year horizon. The 10year return climbed slightly higher for the fourteenth consecutive quarter and the 1-year performance
indicator nearly doubled from one year ago. It is to be noted that the VC Index for 1-, 3-, and 5- year
returns did not outperform DJIA, NASDAQ Composite, and S&P 500 as of Q3 2013.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK - ONTARIO PENSION
FUND BLAZES VC TRAIL
“We’re in the middle of a major revolution in commerce. This revolution is
disrupting every aspect of retail: funding, inventory & back office management, payments, distribution, fulfillment and customer service. As a result,
the traditional barriers to entry into the retail market are being demolished… Consumers are being empowered to buy any product we want (even
rare, unique ones), however we want, from anyone selling them, from anywhere in the world. There has never been a better time to be an entrepreneurial merchant…”
Who said it: Jim Orlando, Managing Director at OMERS Ventures
In Context: This week’s quote of the week may sound like it’s from 1999 at the height of the dotcom
bubble but it is actually from press releases from OMERS Ventures, an Ontario, Canada pension fund,
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5. that is active as a direct investor in PE and VC deals. The press releases were about the fund leading a
USD 100 million investment in Shopify, a Canadian ecommerce startup that will use the funding to expand point of sale solutions for retailers. The deal was done along with some of Silicon Valley’s top VC
funds. It used to be that pension funds were the co-investors and the big names would lead the deals.
So the PE industry is changing.
OMERS is coming up in the international PE markets and it had an impressive 2013 with three PE exits
that delivered a 4X multiple. The VC arm of OMERS has completed almost one investment per month
and has been involved in some of the largest venture capital investments made in software companies
in Canadian history, including the USD 80-million investment (co-investment with NEA) in KitchenerWaterloo’s Desire2Learn and the USD 165-million investment (teaming with Insight and Accel) in
Vancouver-based social media startup HootSuite. OMERS has at least two nominations for industry
awards in 2014, for example, a Techvibes award and a Real Deals award.
Where we found it: OMERS Ventures website via the Globe and Mail.
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