Caisse, CPPIB, Ontario Teachers’ invest in insurance company

The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan are entering into subscription agreements with Intact Financial Corp. to support its conditional acquisition offer for RSA Insurance Group.

The Caisse, the CPPIB and the Ontario Teachers’ are committing $1.5 billion, $1.2 billion and $500 million, respectively.

Read: CPPIB to sell stake in London real estate, Caisse invests in renewable assets in Spain

“This is a significant opportunity to acquire an interest in a highly-differentiated insurer with a track record of growth and outperformance,” said Bill MacKenzie, managing director and head of active fundamental equities at the CPPIB, in a press release.

In a statement provided to Benefits Canada, Karen Frank, senior managing director of equities at the Ontario Teachers’, said the pension fund is pleased to be able to support Intact in the acquisition. “We have full confidence in Intact’s ability to generate shareholder value with this transaction given their strong track record over many years.”

Read: Ontario Teachers’ opening Singapore office

In other investment news, the Ontario Teachers’ is part of a joint US$1.25 billion investment in Equis Development Pte Ltd., a company specializing in renewable energy, power grid distribution and transmission and waste infrastructure assets in the Asia-Pacific region.

Other investors include the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and the Equis management team. EDL is currently developing or constructing 40 assets across its target markets.

“The company fits with our greenfield and renewables strategy to focus on development stage opportunities through high-quality platforms,”said Ben Chan, regional managing director for Asia at the Ontario Teachers’, in a press release. “We believe this investment will help us build scale in Asia and grow our exposure to renewables.”

Read: CPPIB buying U.S.-based renewable energy developer