Group set to buy Market Wire parent

by Erica Iacono, PR Week USA 03-Jan-07, 12:02

TORONTO: CCNMatthews, the Canadian news distributor and parent company of Market Wire, has entered into a deal to be acquired by OMERS Capital Partners, the private equity arm of one of Canada's largest pension funds.

Manulife Capital, the private equity group of Manulife Financial, will assume a minority stake. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Michael Nowlan, president and CEO of CCNMatthews, said the deal would not affect the day-to-day operations of the newswire company or its offerings, but nonetheless has its benefits.

"We're in an industry where there's a lot of activity going on," he said. "This…puts us on par with our major competitors as far as capital partners."

This was the latest newswire deal in a year that saw a flurry of activity, the most notable being Berkshire Hathaway's purchase of Business Wire at the beginning of 2006. CCN Matthews itself bought Market Wire last April.