Pension Pulse

 Jessica Hamlin of PitchBook reports BCI's new PE head shakes up continuation fund formula:  The new head of private equity at British Columbia Investment Management Corporation is betting that liquidity maneuvers, such as continuation funds, are here to stay. BCI’s PE unit, which oversees at least C$36 billion ($25.7 billion), announced on May 28 the launch of a private capital solutions group. Under the leadership of Jon Salon, the new group will fund preferred equity issuance and recapitalizations, invest in continuation vehicles and take minority stakes in companies, as part of a strategic response to the prolonged liquidity shortage in private markets. “There’s this perfect storm of challenges and opportunity,” Salon told PitchBook. The capital solutions group is Salon’s first major initiative as PE head since his appointment in January, when he replaced Jim Pittman. Pittman led the program for a decade, growing it from C$7 billion AUM. “We said, what are ...

Joey Klender of TESLARATI reports  SpaceX IPO set to provide massive $11.6B windfall for teacher pension plan: The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) stands to reap one of the most extraordinary returns in pension fund history thanks to a bold 2019 investment in SpaceX. According to a recent report from The Globe and Mail , the Toronto-based fund invested roughly $300 million CAD (~$220 million USD at the time) in Elon Musk’s space company as its inaugural deal through the Teachers’ Innovation Platform. At SpaceX’s anticipated $1.75 trillion IPO valuation, set for a mid-June debut on Nasdaq under ticker $ SPCX, that stake could now be worth up to $11.6 billion USD . This would represent a roughly 50x return and easily become OTPP’s most successful single investment ever. The fund manages $279 billion in assets for approximately 346,000 working and retired teachers in Ontario, potentially delivering an average boost of around $33,500 pe...

OMERS' real estate subsidiary Oxford Properties, recently announced that M7 Real Estate has acquired €181 million of prime Spanish logistics assets: M7 Real Estate (“M7”), a market leading investor and operator of European industrial and logistics properties, announces that it has completed the acquisition of 13 high-quality, strategically located Spanish logistics assets comprising 138,411 sq m, in two separate transactions from an Aristeas & Partners Group JV and Patrizia. The acquisitions were undertaken on behalf of the European Supply Chain Investment Partnership (“ESCIP”), a joint venture between AustralianSuper and Oxford Properties Group (“Oxford”), managed by M7. The first transaction comprises the purchase of 11 prime modern logistics assets in Madrid and one in Barcelona, from a JV between the Mazin family backed Aristeas Group and Partners Group. Spanning 108,115 sq m and situated in established logistics markets, the 12-asset portfolio is 88% let to 14...

Today, La Caisse announced it will  become the sole owner of the A25 Concession, acquiring Transurban’s remaining stake: Plenary Americas, a La Caisse portfolio company, will support the asset’s day-to-day operations, ensuring service continuity for users Global investment group La Caisse today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Transurban’s remaining 50% interest in the A25 Concession, bringing its ownership from 50% to 100% and making it the sole owner of this strategic asset. The equity investment is CAD 280 million. This transaction follows La Caisse’s initial investment in 2023, when it acquired a 50% stake from Transurban in the A25 Concession, a 7.2‑km link consisting of a highway and toll bridge that plays a key role in Greater Montréal’s transportation netw...

Sergi Barreto of Alternatives Watch reports  PSP, La Caisse and Norges join TPG in $2 billion ECHO Realty deal: PSP Investments, La Caisse, and Norges Bank Investment Management have committed capital alongside TPG to acquire ECHO Realty, an owner and operator of grocery-anchored retail centers, in a transaction valued at about $2 billion. ECHO operates roughly 230 centers across Midwest and Southeast U.S. markets, anchored by grocery and convenience retailers that include Giant Eagle, Publix, Harris Teeter, Safeway, Acme Markets, Whole Foods and Couche-Tard’s GetGo. Founded in 2000, the company has acquired and developed more than 16 million square feet of neighborhood and regional centers and runs a brokerage arm, ECHO Retail. The TPG-led group will work with ECHO’s management team to expand the platform into new markets and build out its leasing, property management and acquisition activity. “Our partnership reflects TPG’s long-term thematic focus on resilie...