Altas Partners (“Altas”), a long-term oriented private equity investment firm, today announced the appointment of Kathleen (“Katie”) Taylor to the newly created position of Chair of Altas Partners. “The appointment of Katie marks an important milestone in the ongoing evolution of Altas,” said Andrew Sheiner, Founder and Managing Partner of Altas Partners. “Katie brings tremendous leadership experience to the firm as well as deep expertise in the areas of organizational effectiveness and talent management. These capabilities will strengthen our firm and help us deliver on our commitment to be excellent partners to our management teams as we work to build great companies together.”

In addition to her role at Altas, Ms. Taylor currently serves as Chair of the Royal Bank of Canada, Vice Chair at The Adecco Group and a director of Air Canada, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and MyEyeDr., an Altas portfolio company. Ms. Taylor is involved with several not-for-profit organizations including as Chair of the Board of the SickKids Foundation. Previously, Ms. Taylor was President & CEO of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts where she was instrumental in building Four Seasons’ global brand, service culture and international portfolio of luxury properties over a career that spanned more than 23 years. For additional background please visit https://www.altas.com/#team.

“Altas’ focus is to own and build great companies, and that resonates with me very much,” said Ms. Taylor. “As a long-term Altas Advisory Board member, I’ve come to appreciate first-hand the firm’s strong value proposition and its appeal to business owners and management teams seeking a thoughtful and long-term oriented partner. I am honoured to be named Chair of Altas Partners and am delighted to be joining its wonderful team.”

The merchant-banking division of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is buying the company that manages MyEyeDr. optometry practices from private-equity firm Altas Partners LP and Canadian pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.

The deal for Capital Vision Services LP is valued at $2.7 billion, including debt, and is expected to be announced on Monday, according to people familiar with the matter.

Capital Vision supports independent optometrists and practices affiliated with the MyEyeDr. brand by providing them with financial, marketing, human-resources and accounting services, in addition to helping them with things like claims processing. MyEyeDr. practices offer vision-care services and sell prescription eyeglasses, sunglasses and contact lenses.

By the end of this year, the company will have grown to 575 practices in 18 states, up from 165 in seven states at the time it was bought by Altas in 2015. Under the leadership of co-founder and Chief Executive Sue Downes, the company has also expanded medical services, such as retinal imaging, and the variety of frames it offers to practices.

Altas, which bought the business with CDPQ for $775 million, was ahead of schedule on its growth plans and ran an auction process after receiving unsolicited interest in the company, one of the people said.

For private equity, the model of rolling up independent health-care providers in areas such as optometry, dentistry, veterinary- and physical-therapy services under one operator has been a favored strategy.

Based in Toronto, Altas manages more than $6 billion of assets. Its strategy gives it the flexibility to hold businesses for longer than the typical buyout firm does. Its founder, Andrew Sheiner, left private-equity firm Onex Corp. to start the firm in 2012.

Goldman’s merchant-banking division manages equity and credit investments across corporate, real estate and infrastructure strategies. Since 1986, it has invested roughly $180 billion in the health-care sector.

Sumit Rajpal and Andrew Wolff recently took over day-to-day oversight of the business from Rich Friedman, one of Goldman’s longest-serving partners. The bank plans to raise new private-equity funds that it can charge fees to manage, and over time invest less of its own cash directly in deals.

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MIRIAM GOTTFRIED, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

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West Street Capital Partners VII, a fund managed by the Merchant Banking Division of Goldman Sachs (“GS MBD”), Altas Partners (“Altas”) and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (“CDPQ”) announced today their entry into a definitive agreement under which GS MBD will acquire Capital Vision Services, LP (“CVS”) from Altas and CDPQ. CVS, which provides management services to MyEyeDr. O.D.’s (“MyEyeDr.” or the “Company”) optometry practices, supports affiliated independent MyEyeDr. optometrists and their practices with a complete array of financial, marketing, human resources, and accounting services, along with managed care credentialing and claims processing. MyEyeDr. practices offer patients personalized and essential eye care services, an unmatched selection of prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses, and standard and specialty contact lenses to meet their unique vision, health and wellness needs.

“We are thrilled to partner with GS MBD as we turn to the next chapter of our growth and champion a new path for eye care,” said Sue Downes, Co-Founder and CEO of CVS. “GS MBD’s funds have a long and established track record of successfully scaling healthcare companies, and we look forward to leveraging their expertise as we provide even more patients access to the latest in vision care technology.”

“We also thank Altas and CDPQ for their partnership and invaluable support these last several years,” added Downes. “By leveraging their operational expertise and strategic insight, we were able to significantly enhance our capabilities, processes and systems and strengthen our senior management team with the addition of multiple key hires.”

“We are very excited to announce this transaction and mark the beginning of the next chapter of CVS’ success,” said Jo Natauri, Global Head of Healthcare Investing for the Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division. “We look forward to partnering with this talented management team and building on their foundation of commercial and operational excellence. CVS has a proven consumer-directed healthcare model that champions optometrists and promotes eye health. We are proud to support the Company’s continued growth and pleased about this new investment, which expands our portfolio in the healthcare services sector.” “We are extremely proud to have partnered with Sue Downes, David Sheffer and the entire CVS management team during this time of tremendous growth and development for the Company,” said Scott Werry, a Managing Partner of Altas. “At the time of our investment in 2015, CVS managed 165 practices in 7 states; by the end of this year, the Company’s footprint will have grown to 575 practices in 18 states nationwide. CVS is well ahead of schedule in achieving our strategic vision for the business, which was focused on significantly enhancing its scale and scope while delivering improved patient outcomes across its affiliated practices.”

“CVS achieved tremendous success in growing the Company during the past few years. This is now a world-class organization that is poised for continued growth in the coming years,” said Stéphane Etroy, Executive Vice-President and Head of Private Equity at CDPQ. “It is a great experience to work alongside an exceptional management team such as the one leading CVS and support them with the right mix of strategic input and tools that enable them to thrive.”

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2019 subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

About Capital Vision Services, LP Founded in 2001, Capital Vision Services, which provides management services to full-service optometry practices, is a market leader. Its affiliated MyEyeDr. practices offer patients exceptional full-service vision care, a wide selection of prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses, and standard and specialty contact lenses. Capital Vision Services provides affiliated, independent optometrists with a complete array of financial, marketing, human resources and accounting services, along with managed care credentialing and claims processing.

For more information: https://www.capitalvisionservices.com/

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About Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division Founded in 1869, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm. Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division is the primary center for the firm’s long-term principal investing activity. With nine offices across seven countries, Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division is one of the leading private capital investors in the world with equity and credit investments across corporate, real estate and infrastructure strategies. Since 1986, the group has invested approximately $180 billion of levered capital across a number of geographies, industries and transaction types.

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About Altas Partners Founded in 2012, Altas Partners is an investment firm with a long-term orientation focused on acquiring significant interests in high-quality, market-leading businesses in partnership with outstanding management teams. The firm manages more than $6 billion on behalf of endowments, foundations, public pension funds and other institutional investors. The firm’s past and present portfolio companies include University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences, Tecta America, Hub International, PADI, Capital Vision Services, Medforth Global Healthcare Education, and NSC Minerals.

For more information: https://www.altas.com

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About Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) is a long-term institutional investor that manages funds primarily for public and parapublic pension and insurance plans. As of December 31, 2018, it held CA$309.5 billion in net assets. As one of Canada’s leading institutional fund managers, CDPQ invests globally in major financial markets, private equity, infrastructure, real estate and private debt. For more information, visit cdpq.com, follow us on Twitter @LaCDPQ or consult our Facebook or LinkedIn pages. Media Contacts:

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For Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division: Leslie Shribman U.S.: +1 (212) 902 5400

For Altas Partners: Sard Verbinnen & Co. Julie Rudnick / Kevin Siegel

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CANADIAN GRADUATES OF ST. GEORGE’S UNIVERSITY’S MEDICAL SCHOOL EXPERIENCE HIGH MATCHING RATES, OPPORTUNITIES GLOBALLY AND ACROSS NORTH AMERICA

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When Vancouver-born Jonathan Phang had completed his undergraduate degree at McGill University in Montreal, he began applying to Canadian and U.S. medical schools. Not initially accepted, he pondered what to do next and considered getting his master’s degree. Then, as he puts it, “St. George’s University caught my eye.”

“It had a very strong curriculum and produced a lot of great doctors in both the U.S. and Canada. It was very credible,” says Phang. Fast-forward several years and several clinical rotations later – at hospitals across the U.S. in New York, New Jersey, California, Nevada and Georgia – and Phang is now back in Canada, in his first year of the psychiatry residency program at the University of Saskatchewan.

“The diversity [of my experience in the U.S. programs] definitely helped me match here,” he says. “I’ve been in Saskatchewan since last May and I’m loving it.”

With a combination of high residency matches, highly qualified faculty and an exceptional support system for its students, it is no wonder that increasing numbers of Canadian medical students are choosing Caribbean-based St. George’s University (SGU) to pursue their medical degrees.

Founded on the island of Grenada in the West Indies, SGU’s School of Medicine officially opened its doors to a small group of students in January 1977.

Today, SGU boasts more than 16,000 graduates in medicine and has been the No. 1 provider of doctors into first-year residencies in the U.S. for the last eight years combined. It is also the third-largest source of physicians for the entire U.S. workforce. In Canada, 143 SGU students have matched into first-year residency programs over the last 10 years, including 16 so far in 2019. Hundreds more have obtained residency positions in the U.S.

SGU students are matching in a broad range of specialties, including internal medicine, family medicine, anesthesiology, emergency medicine, neurology, pathology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, surgery and urology.

Ninety-one per cent of eligible Canadian students who applied for a residency position in 2018 in either Canada or the U.S. were successful. “Canadian students stand a much higher chance of matching to a residency program of their choice in North America than anywhere in the world outside of Canada,” says Sandra Banner, St. George’s University Canadian consultant and the former director of the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS).

Banner notes students are extensively prepared for both the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) and the Medical Council of Canada exams. In 2017, first-time Canadian test-takers from SGU had a 99-per-cent pass rate for Step 1 of the USMLE, which is on par with U.S. student test-takers.

“The advantages at SGU over other programs are its diversity, in terms of breadth of student population, teaching facilities and eventually where its graduates practise,” notes Josh Ramjist, who studied in the UK for the first year as a member of SGU’s Keith B. Taylor Global Scholars Program. In 2011, Ramjist started residency in general surgery at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., and is currently the hospital’s chief resident in the department of surgery. He plans to return to Canada this summer to start a fellowship in pediatric trauma at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children.

“I can’t think of too many medical schools that have as many countries represented as SGU does,” Ramjist says. “Our teaching facilities are vast, designed to facilitate students becoming top academic achievers, and then it grows to our geographically dispersed affiliated hospitals throughout North America and the U.K.

“With thousands of graduates practicing in a wide range of specialties globally, the SGU ‘family’ of alumni are further changing the way medicine is practised globally.”

In addition to a highly qualified faculty (SGU has close to 2,000 campus-based and clinical faculty, and those with professorial rank have either a PhD, an MD or both), the university is renowned for its support system, offered through the department of education services (DES). Almost all students access this unique system, which offers support in myriad areas, from time management, study and test-taking skills to assistance with reducing anxiety.

“We had a dean from a Canadian medical school visit the campus a few year ago, who said there isn’t a school in Canada that offers the same level of support,” says SGU Canadian consultant Chuck Furey, a former MLA for Newfoundland and Labrador. “He thought it was an exceptional part of the program.”

“The student supports are simply outstanding. SGU is dedicated to helping students from the beginning of the journey to obtaining residencies, from exams to special tutorials,” Furey adds. “It’s really something spectacular to behold.”

“The university offers lot of academic support,” agrees Phang. “If you are ever struggling in a class or with study habits, they have DES small group programs that can help you with study strategies,” he adds, noting that faculty members are “more than willing to meet with you one-on-one.”

“I’m very thankful for the opportunities afforded to me by SGU,” says Ramjist. “I think back to where I was when I was an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto and thought there was a future in medicine for me, but I wasn’t sure exactly how or what path it would take. I’ve never regretted attending SGU for a minute and would do it again in a heartbeat.”

“It’s not a second choice,” adds Banner. “It’s a first-choice school, with first-choice results.”

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JODIE WARREN, NATIONAL POST

Altas Partners has completed its previously announced acquisition of the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS), a leading graduate health sciences academic institution.

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Founded in 1979, USAHS currently educates its students through its network of campuses in San Marcos, California; St. Augustine, Florida; Austin, Texas; and Miami, Florida, and through its online programs. USAHS is the largest educator of physical therapists and occupational therapists in the US, and also offers graduate degrees in nursing and other areas related to its core mission of quality health sciences education.

USAHS focuses on the development of professional health care practitioners through innovative, individualized and quality classroom, clinical and distance education. USAHS is regionally accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission.

For more information, please visit www.usa.edu.

Altas Partners today announced that it has completed the sale of NSC Minerals Ltd. (“NSC” or the “Company”), a market-leading provider of salt products in Western Canada and the North Central United States. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

NSC is a leading producer of salt products to provincial, state, and municipal governments, contractors, and industrial customers. The Company offers a wide range of bulk, industrial, and packaged products used in critical applications such as road de-icing.

“Altas was a great partner to our management team,” said Neil Cameron, President and CEO of NSC Minerals. “Consistent with their approach, Altas has supported investments that have positioned NSC for long-term success. We are grateful for the insight they have provided, including supporting key strategic decisions and areas of investment across the business, and thank them for their partnership.”

“It has been a privilege to partner with Malcolm Leggett, NSC’s visionary founder, CEO Neil Cameron and the entire NSC team over the past many years,” commented Andrew Sheiner, Founder and Managing Partner of Altas Partners. “Through a collaborative partnership, we were able to enhance operational performance considerably, driven by logistics optimization and strategic capital investment throughout NSC’s network. We wish the NSC team all the best as they continue to build this wonderful business in the years to come.”

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About NSC Minerals Ltd.
Founded in 1988 and based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, NSC is a market-leading provider of salt for de-icing, industrial, and agricultural applications. NSC distributes product through a best-in-class logistics network to customers including provincial, state, and municipal governments, contractors, and industrial customers in Western Canada and the North Central United States.

For more information: https://nscminerals.ca

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About Altas Partners
Altas Partners is an investment firm with a long-term orientation focused on acquiring significant interests in high-quality, market-leading businesses in partnership with outstanding management teams. Key elements of the firm’s approach include responsible capital structures, active ownership through strategic and operational support and an emphasis on sustainable value creation. Altas invests on behalf of endowments, foundations, public pension funds and other institutional investors.

For more information: https://www.altas.com

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Media Contacts:

Altas Partners
Sard Verbinnen & Co.
Andrew Cole / Julie Rudnick
U.S.: +1 (212) 687 8080

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LONG-TERM INVESTOR ALTAS PARTNERS CLOSES IN ON Q4 DEAL TRIFECTA

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Altas Partners, a pioneer of long-life investing, will soon conclude its busiest quarter to date, wrapping up three transactions — two of them years in the making.

Last month, the Toronto private equity firm closed its acquisition of commercial-roofing contractor Tecta America from ONCAP.

Also in November, Altas completed a minority investment in insurance brokerage Hub International, joining existing owner Hellman & Friedman.

And before the year is out it is expected to finalize a $400-million carveout of physical-therapy school University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences from Laureate Education.

This many closings in a three-month span is rare for Altas, which maintains a slow and deliberative deal pace as part of its long-term strategy.

Founded in 2012 by Managing Partner Andrew Sheiner, a former senior Onex Corp executive, the firm makes control-stake investments in hard-to-replicate businesses and holds them indefinitely.

The strategy departs from the traditional PE horizon of three to five years.

Companies of interest to Altas possess natural advantages that will make them “just as relevant and profitable a decade from now,” Sheiner told Buyouts.

Attributes include a demonstrated track record, sector leadership and an attractive cash-flow profile.

Often these are private businesses navigating an owner-operator transition. Others have a history of sponsor ownership and are now “keen to get off the PE treadmill,” Sheiner said.

A select few emerge from an Altas sourcing process that averages 15 months, from initial engagement to completion. In some cases, as with Hub and USAHS, origination can run for more than 24 months.

On balance, Altas picks one or two companies for acquisition per year, investing up to $800 million in each.

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Flexibility the watchword

Along with selectivity, Sheiner said his firm’s strategy puts a premium on a “flexible” horizon. This means investing without reference to a specific timeline, focusing instead on holding assets long enough to generate maximum value.

“Each investment marks the beginning of a journey,” he said. “We partner with a like-minded management team and set out to execute on a shared vision for the business. We don’t know where the journey will take us, which is why flexibility is essential.”

Sheiner said this “optionality of ownership” is key to Altas’s differentiation in a growing club of long-term investors.

In recent years, a number of PE firms, including buyout giants Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group, CVC Capital Partners and KKR, have raised billions of dollars for long-life vehicles. Several offerings have featured hold periods as long as 15 to 20 years.

Upon completion of the USAHS transaction, Altas will have made seven investments in seven years. Five of them sit in the portfolio of Altas Partners Holdings LP, which raised $1 billion in 2016.

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In sync with LP trends

Altas’s strategy has met with a warm reception among global institutional investors, many of which are looking to deploy larger sums to long-term opportunities. This is especially true at a time of market frothiness and uncertainty.

Such investors, including pension funds, insurers, endowments and family offices, have so far committed roughly $5 billion to the firm’s stewardship, Sheiner said.

Several have committed resources as major partners in Altas’s transactions.

For example, Altas and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec co-led a group that in 2015 invested in optometry-practices manager Capital Vision Services.

And CDPQ and OPTrust joined a 2014 consortium led by Altas and Baring Private Equity Asia to acquire medical school St. Georges University, reportedly for $750 million.

Sheiner oversees a team of 14 investment pros. Its senior members include Managing Partner Scott Werry and Partners Christopher McElhone, Paul Nicoletti, David Brent and Damon Conway.

Brent signed on in July from Apollo Global Management.

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Do long-life funds outperform?

Bain & Co recently examined the question of whether long-term PE funds outperform traditional funds.

Bain modeled costs and returns for a theoretical long-life fund selling an investment after 24 years versus a short-duration fund selling four successive companies over the same period.

It found the long-life fund outperformed the short-duration fund by almost 2x on an after-tax basis.

This was achieved, Bain said, by eliminating transaction fees, deferring capital gains taxation and keeping capital fully invested.

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KIRK FALCONER, PE HUB

On November 28, 2018, Altas Partners (“Altas”) completed a substantial equity investment in Hub International Limited (“Hub” or the “Company”), a leading full-service insurance brokerage. The transaction values Hub at more than $10 billion of total enterprise value. Altas will own its equity interest in Hub alongside Company management and employees, who are significant shareholders, and Hellman & Friedman, a leading private equity firm with offices in New York, San Francisco and London.

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Hub has distinguished itself as the premier mid-market insurance brokerage, building on the company’s proven formula and enjoying a long and consistent track record of success in the North American marketplace. Hub remains focused on bringing global resources to the local market via its network of regional brokerage offices. The firm continues to prioritize arming its producers and support teams with market-leading products and resources, while cultivating a culture of specialization to provide the level of expertise that Hub’s customers demand. Hub is making significant investments in delivering best-in-class customer experiences, including technology that accelerates the pace at which Hub can complete transactions and provide cost-efficient solutions meeting the evolving needs of customers.

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About Hub International
Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Hub International Limited is a leading full-service global insurance broker providing property and casualty, life and health, employee benefits, investment and risk management products and services. With more than 11,000 employees in offices located throughout North America, Hub’s vast network of specialists provides peace of mind on what matters most by protecting clients through unrelenting advocacy and tailored insurance solutions. For more information, please visit https://www.hubinternational.com

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About Altas Partners
Altas Partners is an investment firm with a long-term orientation focused on acquiring significant interests in high-quality, market-leading businesses in partnership with outstanding management teams. Key elements of the firm’s approach include responsible capital structures, active ownership through strategic and operational support and an emphasis on sustainable value creation. Altas invests on behalf of endowments, foundations, public pension funds and other institutional investors.

Altas Partners (“Altas”), a long-term oriented investment firm, today announced the acquisition of Tecta America Corporation (“Tecta America” or the “Company”). Tecta America is a national leader in commercial roofing services in the U.S.

Tecta America is the nation’s premier commercial roofing contractor, employing more than 3,000 roofing professionals and operating across more than 60 locations from coast to coast. The Company provides a comprehensive set of commercial roofing services to national and local customers across a spectrum of industries and end markets. Tecta America’s full suite of value-added roofing services includes installation, replacement, repairs and maintenance, new construction, disaster response and advanced sustainability options.

“We are thrilled to partner with Altas as we continue to execute on our growth opportunities – both organically and through selective acquisitions. Furthermore, we’re excited to leverage the firm’s support and expertise as we continue to focus on delivering best-in-class service to our customers and being the employer of choice in the roofing industry,” said Mark Santacrose, President and CEO of Tecta America. “We greatly value Altas’ confidence in our people and our future.”

“Tecta America’s strength as a national company with deep local relationships has enabled its evolution into the largest commercial roofing contractor in the U.S.,” said David Brent, a Partner at Altas. “This opportunity is an excellent fit with our long-term investment strategy and approach of partnering with outstanding management teams. We look forward to supporting the team at Tecta America as it continues to provide its customers with exceptional service and capitalize on the significant growth opportunities that lie ahead.”

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About Altas Partners

Altas Partners is an investment firm with a long-term orientation focused on acquiring significant interests in high-quality, market-leading businesses in partnership with outstanding management teams. Key elements of the firm’s approach include responsible capital structures, active ownership through strategic and operational support and an emphasis on sustainable value creation. Altas invests on behalf of endowments, foundations, public pension funds and other institutional investors.

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About Tecta America Corporation

Tecta America is the nation’s premier commercial roofing contractor with more than 60 locations from coast to coast. Tecta America’s unyielding commitment to quality, expertise, and professionalism have helped it become the industry leader in commercial roofing. Providing installation of all types, replacement, repairs and maintenance, new construction, disaster response, sustainability options and more, Tecta America offers the responsiveness of a local roofing contractor backed by the resources and stability of a national provider.

For more information: http://www.tectaamerica.com