Talks between Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Toronto, and General Electric Co. over a large part of GE’s private equity lending business continued Monday, with sources saying a deal might not be completed until later this week.
One source said the CPPIB-GE deal for the unit, GE Antares Capital, “still had some issues that needed to be settled.” The source said the complexity of the deal was a major reason for the length of the negotiations.
The board, which oversees the assets of the C$264.6 billion ($212.4 billion) Canada Pension Plan, Ottawa, is in talks to acquire about $10 billion in assets of the total $18 billion in assets in GE Antares, the sources said on condition of anonymity.
Also, private equity firm Ares Management is pursuing a separate deal for the Senior Secured Loan Program it co-manages with GE, according to the same sources.
Mei Mavin, spokeswoman at the CPPIB; Sue Bishop, GE spokeswoman; and Bill Mendel, Ares spokesman, all declined to comment.
GE Antares is among the banking businesses that GE announced in April it was shedding. The business finances leveraged buyouts. The deal would be among several high-profile acquisitions made by the CPP Investment Board this year, although the others involved a partner.
Last month, the board joined with Singapore’s $300 billion sovereign wealth fund GIC to invest £1.1 billion ($1.68 billion) each for a combined 33% stake in the U.K. mobile phone interests of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd.
In April, it joined with Hermes Infrastructure, which manages assets on behalf of several U.K pension funds, to acquire a 30% stake in Associated British Ports, and with private equity firm Permira agreed to acquire data software provider Informatica for $5.3 billion.
CPP Investment Board had C$66 billion in private investments as of Dec. 31, including C$44.3 billion in private equity, according to its website.
