Pension Pulse

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...

Amalya Dubrovsky and Brett LoGiurato of Yahoo Finance report the Nasdaq plunges 4%, Dow and S&P 500 sink as AI trade halts on Fed hike bets: US stocks fell sharply on Friday, with tech leading the way down after May's jobs report blew past expectations, while a rotation out of tech stocks and chipmakers continued. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ( ^DJI ) fell 1.3%. The benchmark S&P 500 ( ^GSPC ) sank 2.6%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ( ^IXIC ) plunged by over 4.1%, with shares of Nvidia ( NVDA ) falling 6%. The May jobs report far exceeded expectations, with US employers adding 172,000 jobs last month, well above economists' expectations of around 88,000. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%. But the strong report also fueled bets on a Federal Reserve rate hike at some point this year, as the  labor market stabilizes  amid high inflation. Traders are now fully pricing in a rate hike from the central bank by the end of the year, eve...

The Canadian Press reports  CPP Investments expands partnership with buy-now-pay-later lender Affirm: TORONTO — The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has signed a deal to renew and expand its partnership with buy-now-pay-later lender Affirm. Under the two-year agreement, CPP Investments will commit US$1.7 billion to buy Affirm instalment loans. It also has the ability to increase the commitment to US$2.2 billion. CPP Investments has purchased nearly US$14 billion in Affirm assets since 2019 through forward-flow agreements and asset-backed securitizations. Paras Vira, head of Americas structured credit at CPP Investments, says Affirm has consistently produced the kind of credit performance the fund looks for in a long-term partner. CPP Investments invests the money not needed to fund current Canada Pension Plan benefits.  Earlier today, CPP Investments announced it will renew and expand its capital partnership with Affirm:  SAN FRANCISCO, CA & TORONTO, ON — ...

Andres Gonzalez of Reuters reports  Canada's OMERS sells 25% stake in Spanish energy logistics firm Exolum: LONDON, May 22 (Reuters) - Canadian pension fund OMERS has agreed to sell its  ​25% stake in Spanish energy ‌logistics company Exolum to European real assets investment firm Stoneshield Capital and another ​investor.   The following details are from ​a joint statement on Friday: Stoneshield ⁠will buy a 15% stake in ​Exolum, after having acquired close ​to 5% in January. The second investor, which was not named, will acquire the ​ remaining 10% from OMERS. Financial terms ​were not disclosed. In December, OMERS carried out ‌a €770 ⁠million refinancing of its Exolum stake. Exolum, which transports, stores and distributes refined oil products, bulk liquids and ​aviation ​fuels, owns ⁠a 6,000 km (3,728 mile) pipeline network in Spain ​and Britain. It serves more than ​48 ⁠airports and has over 2,300 staff. The deal is expected to close in ⁠the ​third quarter of ...