OMERS Private Equity (OPE), the private equity investment arm of OMERS, is the recipient of the 2012 Canadian Dealmakers Mid Market Private Equity Award. It’s the second consecutive year OPE has won the award.
The Canadian Dealmakers awards honour Canadian organizations and individuals who have made a significant contribution to the merger and acquisition market, through measures including innovation, growth, establishment of best practices, and value creation. OPE was presented with the award at a gala in Toronto last night in recognition of its acquisition of two platform companies in the North American outpatient rehabilitation sector: CBI Health Group and Accelerated Rehabilitation Centers.
OPE partnered with management to purchase CBI, one of the largest providers of integrated healthcare services in Canada, in January 2011. Similarly, OPE partnered with management to acquire Accelerated, a leading provider of outpatient physical rehabilitation services in the U.S. Midwest, in July 2011.
“Given current demographic and economic trends, we believe there are attractive investment opportunities in the healthcare sector that fit our mandate of generating strong returns and cash flows for members of the OMERS pension plan,” said Tim Patterson, managing director at OPE. “We identified outpatient rehabilitation as a focus for us within the healthcare sector due to the industry’s potential for long-term stable growth and its fragmented nature. As a well-capitalized, long-term investor we believe we can create substantial value by partnering with market leaders CBI and Accelerated.”
The Canadian Dealmakers awards program was founded by Deloitte, Lexpert, The Globe and Mail and Thomson Reuters. The Private Equity Mid Market Award was co-sponsored by Canada’s Venture Capital Private Equity Association.