Infrastructure fund manager Plenary Americas is the final bidder for property registry Information Services Corp. ISC-T after concerns about potential job losses at the Regina-based company eliminated another potential buyer.
Toronto-based Plenary, an arm of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, is negotiating to take Information Services Corp. (ISC) private after the company’s board launched a strategic review seven months ago, according to two sources involved in the process.
The Globe and Mail is not naming the sources because they are not permitted to speak for the companies. Spokespersons for ISC and Plenary declined to comment.
If ISC does agree to a sale, the price tag is expected to be roughly $900-million, or more than $50 a share, according to the sources involved in the process.
The ISC board may decide to end the strategic review without announcing the sale of the company, the sources said. However, in the past two years, boards and shareholders have signed off on the sale of numerous publicly listed infrastructure companies to institutional fund managers.
Two pension plans still in bidding for Saskatchewan property data company
In 2020, the Caisse acquired Plenary Americas from an Australian institutional investor as part of the Montreal-based fund manager’s strategy of increasing its investments in long-life infrastructure assets. ISC has a contract to serve as Saskatchewan’s land and corporate registry until 2053.
The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) also made an offer for ISC ahead of an April 1 deadline. The ISC board and its financial advisers picked Plenary over OMERS in part over concerns about potential job losses at a company that is a significant employer in Saskatchewan, according to the sources. That prospect was a major factor in the decision to go with Plenary over OMERS, they said.
OMERS also owns Teranet, the property registry in Ontario and Manitoba, and could realize significant synergies by uniting the business with ISC.
ISC’s largest shareholder is a provincial agency, Crown Investments Corp. of Saskatchewan, with a 29-per-cent stake. The provincial government and Crown Investments have made it clear they will only approve a transaction at ISC that “protects the province’s best interests and Saskatchewan jobs,” according to a government document.
The Government of Saskatchewan took ISC public in 2013 at $14 a share. The company has successfully added new businesses such as running lottery technology to its property data division.
Australian funds battle Canadian pension plans for Saskatchewan’s Information Services Corp.
In September, the ISC board launched a strategic review that included potential sale of the company after facing an activist campaign.
ISC’s revenue and profits were up last year, despite lacklustre activity in the residential real estate market. The company’s revenue rose 4 per cent to $257.8-million in 2025, while its adjusted net income jumped to $56.8-million for the year, compared with $42.9-million in 2024.
On Tuesday, ISC shares closed at $42.50 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Looking ahead, RBC Capital Markets analyst Paul Treiber said in a recent report: “We believe the return on the shares will be dependent on the outcome of the strategic review.”
If no takeover offer emerges, Mr. Treiber’s target share price on ISC is $39, while his “upside scenario” is a price of $53.
Institutional investors have acquired numerous publicly traded infrastructure companies in recent years, as long-term fund managers look for assets that will generate consistent cash flow over many years.
In 2008, OMERS acquired Teranet for $2-billion.
Last month, Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. and the Caisse teamed up to buy renewable power producer Boralex Inc. for $3.8-billion. Last year, the Caisse acquired one of Boralex’s peers, Innergex Renewable Energy Inc., in a deal worth $10-billion including assumed debt.
RBC Capital Markets and law firm Stikeman Elliott LLP are running ISC’s strategic review. CIBC Capital Markets is advising Crown Investments.