Canada's pension funds are keeping busy in Britain, as the latest news out of London makes OMERS the front-runner in what's expected to be a $700-million sale of port and shipping agent Inchcape Shipping Services.
OMERS, a $48-billion public sector fund, is into the second round of bidding for ISS, according to Reuters and Financial Times reports on Wednesday, and is pension fund is said to be management's favoured buyer. Website PE Hub picked up on this news.
ISS's owner is Istithmar, an arm of debt-heavy Dubai World. The parent company is in the midst of a $9.5 billion (U.S.) government bailout. Reuters has previously reported that private equity firms Carlyle, Cinven, CVC and General Atlantic are interested in ISS.
OMERS makes no secret of its interest in infrastructure investments, and has a European office. The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan is also an active player in the region; It recently bought Britain's national lottery operator, Camelot. And the Alberta Investment Management Corp. is in takeover talks with British private equity firm Candover Investments.