Onex Corporation

Onex Corporation
Public
Industry Private Equity
Founded 1983 (1983)
Founder Gerry Schwartz
Headquarters Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Key people
 Gerry Schwartz (CEO/Chairman)
Products Private equity funds, Leveraged buyouts
AUM $22.5 billion
Website www.onex.com

Onex Corporation is a private equity investment firm and holding company based out of Toronto, Ontario. As of 2016, the firm has over $22 billion of assets under management.

History

Schwartz had previously worked at Bear Stearns under the investor Jerome Kohlberg, Jr.[1] Kohlberg left in 1976, where he was soon joined by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, and they founded Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.[1] Schwartz returned to Canada, where he started working with Izzy Asper.[1] Schwartz later founded Onex on his own in 1983.[1]

Since its founding, the firm has generated a gross internal rate of return of 28%.[1]

Investments

The firm invests in a wide array of industries. It has shown a particular interest in buying the high-cost manufacturing portion of companies and turning these into low cost suppliers. In the 1980s it played this role in the auto parts industry. In 1996 it bought IBM's manufacturing division Celestica. Although the firm has majority control over most of its subsidiaries, rarely does it have whole ownership.

Onex is involved in the American health care industry, owning a number of firms there. They are also in the movie theatre business, both in Canada with Cineplex Entertainment, as well as in Mexico with Cinemex, the latter in partnership with U.S.-based Carlyle Group. The firm has also long been invested in the airline industry and is well known for its failed 1999 attempt to buy both Air Canada and Canadian Airlines to merge them.[2]

In 2004 Onex bought Boeing Commercial Airplanes' Kansas and Oklahoma manufacturing facilities, forming Spirit AeroSystems, which was later partially floated in late 2006. In late 2006, Onex became a member of the Airline Partners Australia consortium in a takeover bid for Qantas. In January 2007, Onex signed a deal to acquire the Raytheon Aircraft Company from Raytheon (forming Hawker Beechcraft).

In January 2007, Onex signed a deal to acquire Eastman Kodak's medical imaging unit, including a Kodak factory in White City, Oregon. The company formed is now known as Carestream Health.

On June 28, 2007, Onex announced that it would partner with The Carlyle Group to buy the Allison Transmission unit of General Motors for $5.6 billion.[3]

Other companies in which Onex owns a significant stake include, as of November 2008, Sitel, American Medical Response, EmCare, Jeld Wen, Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd, Canadian Securities Institute and CiCi's Pizza.

On December 3, 2012, Onex took a 50% stake in aircraft lessor BBAM and invested $75 million in aircraft leasing firm FLY Leasing.[4]

In May 2013, Nielsen Holdings announced it would sell its expositions business to Onex Corporation for $950 million.[5]

In November 2014, Onex agreed to buy cartons giant SIG Combibloc Group from the Rank Group in a deal reported to be worth $4.6bn.[6]

In July 2016, Onex and Baring Asia agreed to buy the Intellectual Property & Science business unit from Thomson Reuters for $3.55 billion.[7]

In October 2016, Onex agreed to buy Save-A-Lot from SuperValu.[8]

Office

Onex is headquartered on the 49th floor of Brookfield Place in Toronto, with branch offices in New York City, New Jersey, and London.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Canada's very own private-equity giant Onex quietly tops returns of big-name U.S. rivals". Financial Post. Retrieved 2015-11-24.
  2. ↑ Air Canada Timeline
  3. ↑ Reuters/Yahoo! News: "GM selling Allison for $5.6 billion," 2007-06-28
  4. ↑ ONEX. ONEX. Retrieved on 2013-09-19.
  5. ↑ Bhaswati Mukhopadhyay (6 May 2013). "Nielsen to sell expositions business to Canadian PE firm for $950 million". Reuters.
  6. ↑ "Private Equity firm Onex has agreed to acquire cartons giant SIG Combibloc Group in a reported $4.6bn deal". Packaging News. Retrieved 2014-11-24.
  7. ↑ "Thomson Reuters to sell IP & Science unit to Onex, Baring Asia for $3.55 bln". Reuters. Retrieved 2016-07-11.
  8. ↑ "Supervalu to Sell Save-A-Lot Chain to Onex for $1.37 Billion".
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