Whether we’re partnering with industry leaders, supporting a major change in strategy or helping a company improve its business and financial performance, the Relationship Investing group works constructively with boards and senior management teams in Canada and around the world.

We seek to take significant equity stakes (between 5% and 30%) in global companies that we perceive as undervalued, but poised for long-term capital appreciation. Our investments are large - $200 million and up - and the typical hold period is five to seven years. This long term or “patient capital” view matches Teachers’ long-term obligations to pay pensions, and enables management teams to concentrate on improving long-term shareholder value.

What we offer

• Strong, established partnerships, including a global network of industry and financial contacts who know our reputation and track record
• Sophisticated skill sets on the Relationship Investing deal team, plus the broader resources of the fixed income, infrastructure, private and public equities groups at Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan
• The ability to structure investments to meet the needs of unique situations
• Significant liquidity and size, providing the financial firepower needed for large equity investments
• More than a decade of experience working closely with partner companies
• A long-term investing horizon

How we work with companies

• Partnering with industry – we invest in assets alongside premier companies
• Solution investments – we support a major change in a company’s strategy
• Constructive activism – we encourage boards and management to improve business and financial performance

In each situation, we see our involvement as a catalyst - we’ve helped companies, become established, grow through acquisitions, improve their capital structure by reducing debt, and undertake major capital programs.

We look for global opportunities: for example, we backed the EBX Group of Rio de Janeiro in the creation of OGX Petróleo e Gás S.A. in 2007, an oil and gas exploration and production company in Brazil.

We’ve done complex deals: our group teamed up with Sherritt International Corp. in a series of Canadian transactions in 2001-2004 that created the world’s second-largest metallurgical coal exporter and one of the largest thermal coal owners in North America.

We can act quickly on appropriate transactions: we partnered with Canadian Occidental Petroleum in 2000 to buy the 30% stake in Canadian Occidental (now Nexen Inc.) that was owned by Occidental Petroleum. The transaction was finalized within three weeks.

For more about the deals we’ve been involved in, visit Portfolio and Transactions.

How Relationship Investing is different

• We run a concentrated portfolio, more akin to private equity than traditional public equities.
• Our holdings are generally more liquid than private equity, but less liquid than publicly traded stocks.
• We have more influence with our partner companies than investors in widely held public companies do, but less control than private equity investors typically have.
• We conduct heavy due diligence, similar to private equity investors.