The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has doubled down on its Korea Income Joint Venture with asset manager ESR Cayman Ltd., as the pair collectively boosted their investment by US$500 million, bringing the total equity allocation to US$1 billion.
According to a news release, the CPPIB contributed the bulk of the new capital to the venture, which was formed in 2018 to focus on logistics assets near major cities in South Korea.
Read: Institutional investors looking to Asia as economies start to bounce back from pandemic
“Korea is already one of the most developed e-commerce markets in Asia and the pandemic has accelerated the growth in the past year, further fuelling the demand for quality logistics facilities,” said Jimmy Phua, the CPPIB’s head of Asia real estate, in a statement.
In other investment news, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and co-owner Stella Point Capital announced an agreement to sell First American Payment Systems to Deluxe for US$960 million.
According to a news release, the pension plan teamed up with private equity firm Stella Point to acquire the Texas-based payment processing company in 2014, overseeing a period of technology enhancement and strategic growth. First American now serves more than 159,000 merchants Europe and the Americas.
“We believe this transaction represents a terrific outcome for all stakeholders, and we look forward to continuing to watch First American prosper under the stewardship of its new owners,” said Karen Frank, the Ontario Teachers’ senior managing director, in a statement.
The deal remains subject to closing conditions and regulatory approvals, but is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021.
Read: Ontario Teachers’ investing in legal tech company, supporting franchise operator’s expansion
Meanwhile, as the Ontario Teachers’ cashed out of the payment processing space, the venture capital arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System moved in the opposite direction, investing in the series C funding round of Belgian scale-up Deliverect.
The OMERS Ventures was an existing investor in the company — founded in 2018 to connect online delivery companies such as Uber Eats and Just Eat directly to restaurants’ point-of-sale systems — but also contributed to the latest funding round, which raised $65 million for Deliverect.
And, the OMERS Growth Capital will join the board of directors at ExecOnline after leading a series D funding round that raised $45 million for the leadership development company, which partners with top U.S. business schools to deliver courses aimed at enterprises.
“ExecOnline has identified significant white space in the popular edtech sector, which equates to a multi-billion dollar opportunity that we believe the company is ideally positioned to access,” said Saar Pikar, managing director of the OMERS Growth Equity, in a press release.