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The private equity arm of pension fund manager Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) had a good 2013, more than quadrupling its money on the three investments it agreed to sell last year.

OMERS Private Equity head Paul Renaud said Monday that the three sales it agreed in 2013 "resulted in a combined return in excess of 40 per cent and a combined multiple-of-money in excess of 4.0."

That provides a window into what can be opaque returns in private equity, as the prices that firms' investments fetch often aren't revealed .

In June, OMERS sold United States Infrastructure Corp. to Leonard Green & Partners LP. Terms weren't disclosed, but OMERS said USIC's revenue grew 65 per cent in the three years OMERS owned it.

In August, OMERS sold Nordco Inc., which makes parts for railway equipment, to Greenbriar Equity Group LLC. Again, terms weren't disclosed.

The most recent transaction was the December agreement to sell Maxxam Analytics International Corp. to Bureau Veritas SA of France. Maxxam provides analytical services to clients in energy, food and other industries. In the five years since OMERS acquired it, the fund manager said Maxxam's revenue grew by 80 per cent. It ultimately sold for an enterprise value of $650-million.

Of course, realizations don't paint the whole picture of returns from private equity. Pension managers that do private equity also have to value (read: guesstimate) their private holdings and fold those results into their reporting. Canada's big pension plans are heading toward reporting season for their most recent years, so a broader picture of returns in the business will be available in the next few months.

In 2012, OMERS Private Equity reported a rate of return of 19.17 per cent, trailing a 22.09 per cent return for its benchmark. In 2011, OMERS PE reported a rate of return of 7.23 per cent, far in excess of the benchmark's decline of 5.58 per cent.

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