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• Ontario Teachers fund considers Northumbrian Water takeover 02 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (OTPP) is considering a takeover of the Northumbrian Water company, according to reports. The fund, which is said to have a 27 per cent share of the company, is considering buying the business and taking it private. The deal could fetch an estimated £1.7bn (€1.9bn).

• Fortress's Olympics host company Intrawest sells ski resort 29 Jan 2010. Source: AltAssets. A portfolio company of alternative asset manager Fortress Investment that specialises in mountain resorts has sold off one of its Canadian ski resorts as it moves to refinance its debt. Intrawest, which is providing one of the host venues for next month’s Winter Olympics in Canada, has agreed to sell its Panorama Mountain Village resort  in British Columbia to a newly formed company, known as Panorama Mountain Village Inc.

• Phoenix Equity Partners sells Acorn Care to Canadian pension fund 20 Jan 2010. Source: AltAssets. UK mid-market private equity firm Phoenix Equity Partners has agreed to sell Acorn Care and Education to Teachers’ Private Capital, the private investment arm of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. The deal value was not disclosed but has been estimated at $245m by the Financial Times, with Phoenix making a four times return.

• Canada’s only healthcare-focused PE firm PCP raises CAN$65m 08 Jan 2010. Source: AltAssets. Persistence Capital Partners, a Canadian healthcare-focused private equity firm, has held the second closing of its inaugural fund on CAN$65m ($63m), and expects to wrap up fundraising at the end of this quarter.

• Onex increases commitment to latest fund to $800m 05 Jan 2010. Source: AltAssets. Canadian private equity firm Onex Corporation has increased its commitment to its latest fund from $500m to $800m, citing an attractive near-term investment environment. The move brings the total size of its Onex Partners III fund to $4.3bn, with Onex as the largest investor.

• Canadian growth capital firm Tandem Expansion raises $300m 10 Dec 2009. Source: AltAssets. Tandem Expansion, a private equity firm focused on growth capital for Canadian technology companies, has closed its debut fund on $300m.

• Social dating site Zoosk finds perfect match with investors in $30m round 04 Dec 2009. Source: AltAssets. Zoosk, one of the largest social dating communities, has completed a $30m series D round of funding.  The round was led by newcomer Bessemer Venture Partners, the oldest venture capital practice in the US, with existing investors Canaan Partners and ATA Ventures also participating.

• Marketing agency Cossette accepts renewed offer from PE firm Mill Road Capital 01 Dec 2009. Source: AltAssets. US private equity firm Mill Road Capital has had a revised offer of CAN$8.10 ($7.74) per share accepted by Cossette Inc, a major Canadian marketing and communications company.

• Canadian pension fund Caisse makes $5bn debt offering 26 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, one of Canada’s largest pension funds, has completed a $5bn global debt offering as part of a refinancing programme aimed at  addressing its balance sheet.

• Fund of funds TD Capital spins out, rebrands as Northleaf Capital Partners 25 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. The private equity fund of funds arm of Canada’s TD Bank Financial Group, TD Capital Private Equity Investors, has spun out and rebranded as Northleaf Capital Partners.

• Private equity-backed Nortel’s network assets sell for $769m 23 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. The optical networking and carrier ethernet assets of private-equity backed Canadian telecommunications firm Nortel have sold to Ciena Corporation for $769m, according to reports. The network communications company beat out a bid from Nokia Siemens, who had teamed with private equity firm One Equity Partners, in an auction that ran over the weekend.

• TowerBrook Capital Partners sets up $700m lending firm 20 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. TowerBrook Capital Partners, a London and New York-based private equity firm, has set up a $700m independent commercial lending institution called Haymarket Financial. Haymarket has been launched with capital from two Canadian pension funds and TowerBrook.

• Investors push for bigger concessions in PAI fund cut talks 18 Nov 2009. Limited partners in PAI Partners’ €5.4bn buy-out fund have opposed the firm’s offer to let them halve their commitments, saying it does not go far enough. According to Reuters, a group of investors including the $123.8bn Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the second-largest investor in the fund, are pushing for reductions of up to 63 per cent, which would cut the fund down to €2bn.

• IP address management company BlueCat Networks raises $11m in first venture round 03 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. BlueCat Networks, a provider of IP Address Management (IPAM) platforms, has raised $11m in financing in a round led by California-based investment firm Bridgescale Partners.

• International venture capital investment recovers after second quarter slump 27 Oct 2009. Source: AltAssets. International venture capital investment has bounced back after a second quarter slump but remains significantly below 2008 levels, according to a report by Dow Jones VentureSource.

• Sofinnova invests $8m in US green chemicals company DNP Green Technology 27 Oct 2009. Source: AltAssets. Paris venture capital firm Sofinnova Partners has led a $12m round of series A funding for DNP Green Technology, a developer of biomaterials from renewable raw materials.

• AXA Private Equity and the Caisse partner up for portfolio companies 26 Oct 2009. Source: AltAssets. Canadian fund manager Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Paris-based AXA Private Equity have entered into a partnership to better support their portfolio companies with international development prospects. The partners will share their market knowledge and networks in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

• OMERS to cut back on external GPs 23 Oct 2009. Source: AltAssets. The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) is to reduce its reliance on external GPs. The CAN$43bn (€27.4bn) pension fund has decided to move away from externally managed funds and into direct private equity investing, with the goal of shifting its private equity portfolio from 80 per cent direct investments from the current 35 per cent, according to reports.

• Institutional Limited Partners Association introduces Private Equity Principles 09 Sep 2009. Source: AltAssets. The Institutional Limited Partners Association has introduced the ILPA Private Equity Principles, with the hope of strengthening the long-term viability of the asset class as an institutional investment strategy.

• OMERS hires former 3i executive for European private equity investments 07 Sep 2009. Source: AltAssets. Canadian pension fund Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) has hired a new London-based senior managing director to oversee its private equity arm in Europe.

• Canadian private equity group Onex sells interest in medical services company, makes six times return 13 Aug 2009. Source: AltAssets. Onex, a Canadian private equity firm, has sold part of its interest in Emergency Medical Services Corporation in a secondary offering of 9.2 million shares of class A common stock at a price of $40 per share.

• Bone disorder biotech company draws in $50m in funding 10 Aug 2009. Source: AltAssets. Enobia Pharma, an emerging biotech company focused on developing novel therapeutics for serious bone disorders, has raised $50m from its current investors in a Series C financing round.

• Seabed imaging company PanGeo Subsea stays afloat with $11m in venture backing 03 Aug 2009. Source: AltAssets. PanGeo Subsea, a Canadian developer of acoustic imaging technology for the energy sector, has secured $11m to support ongoing commercialisation of its innovative acoustic imaging technology and expansion in its product offerings.