Private equity firm, Canadian pension board in $4.37B bid for UK’s Tomkins

Toronto-based Onex tends to be very price sensitive, he said, adding that it must have seen an obvious way of increasing the value of Tomkins in the next five to ten years because that is the way it generally operates.

And while Onex hasn’t been active in Europe historically, and most of its acquisitions are made in North America, there are deals to be had in the Old continent now, as debt crises in some European countries are wreaking havoc on the value of the British pound and the euro.

The takeover bid marks the latest in a growing number of offers this year that have been submitted by North American firms to acquire British engineering companies.

Earlier this month, URS Corp. won a bidding war to acquire U.K. transport consultancy firm Scott Wilson Group.

The CPP investment board has been on its own acquisition tear in recent months, bolstered by growth in its investment funds and the opportunity to capitalize on the lingering elements of the global financial crisis.

It has invested in infrastructure, real estate and other sectors and recently made a bid to buy an Australian toll highway operator that owns nearly a third of the profitable Highway 407 toll road north of Toronto.

Earlier this month, the board said it would spend $250 million for a piece of privately held Laricina Energy Ltd., the fund’s first direct foray into northern Alberta’s oilsands industry.

Meanwhile, Onex, which manages about US$12 billion of investments focused on private equity, real estate and credit securities, said in May that it is flush with cash and upbeat about acquisition opportunities.

Some of its main operating companies include electronics manufacturer Celestica, ambulance operator Emergency Medical Services Corp., aircraft parts maker Spirit Aerosystems and industrial products supplier Husky Injection Moulding,

The Toronto company’s businesses generate annual revenues of $32 billion and employ 210,000 people worldwide at companies in contract manufacturing, software, aerospace and several other industrial sectors.
© 2010 The Canadian Press