The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is entering into a definitive agreement to sell its majority shareholding in Ireland’s national lottery operator.
The pension fund is selling Premier Lotteries Ireland Ltd., which is headquartered in Dublin, to La Française des Jeux, a lottery and online gaming operator for an undisclosed amount. As part of the transaction, PLI’s other shareholders, Ireland’s state-owned postal services provider and its pension fund, will also sell their minority shareholdings in PLI to FDJ.
“As long-term investors, we aim to build stronger companies that create value for the communities they serve and PLI has generated record levels of sales and contributions to good causes,” said Iñaki Echave, senior managing director at the Ontario Teachers’, in a press release. “We also care about entrusting the company to the right new owner and believe that a highly-reputed, international, like-minded lottery company as FDJ is well-positioned to help PLI continue its success story.”
Read: Ontario Teachers’ completes agreements to operate Irish lottery
In other investment news, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. are entering into a private agreement for the repurchase for cancellation of 10,820,837 common shares of Couche-Tard held by the Caisse for a total consideration of around $700 million.
Once the repurchase is complete, the investment organization will hold about 41.5 million shares, representing around 4.3 per cent of Couche-Tard’s total shares outstanding. The Caisse’s share in the convenience store chain is now valued at $2.8 billion.
“Once again this year, Alimentation Couche-Tard has outperformed for its shareholders,” said Kim Thomassin, executive vice-president and head of Quebec at the Caisse, in a press release. “CDPQ is a long-standing investor and we plan to maintain our commitment as the company continues to grow for the benefit of our depositors. In this transaction, CDPQ will be monetizing a portion of its investment in order to re-inject funds into Quebec-based businesses while remaining one of the main shareholders of this multinational leader of the convenience store sector.”