Canadian specialty financial services firm Difference Capital Financial has received final approval to list shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). The firm commenced trading of common shares and debentures on TSX on October 21, 2013 under the symbol “DCF” and “DCF.DB”. Difference Capital was simultaneously delisted from the TSX Venture Exchange.
3 min read · 22 October 2013
Jim Leech, president and CEO of Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan since 2007, has been appointed the next chancellor of Queen’s University, a three-year position he will occupy in July 2014. Leech announced his retirement from Teachers in April, and will be succeeded next year by senior vice-president, fixed income and alternative investments, Ron Mock. Leech joined the pension plan in 2001 to lead its private equity investment arm Teachers' Private Capital. Before then, he headed Canadian merchant bank firm Unicorp Canada Corp.
3 min read · 22 October 2013
Toronto-based specialty finance firm Wellington Financial LP has extended US$2.5 million in venture debt financing to an unidentified Southern California-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) web platform company. Proceeds of the investment will be used by the company to provide marketing and web management tools to its more than 10,000 end users. In April, Wellington closed its fourth growth capital and venture debt partnership, Wellington Financial Fund IV, at $200 million.
2 min read · 22 October 2013
Winnipeg, Manitoba and Kalamazo, Michigan-based Monteris Medical Inc has received a total of $13.3 million in equity and debt financing. BDC Venture Capital Healthcare Fund led the equity round, with additional participation from the SWMF Life Science Fund and other unnamed investors. Oxford Finance provided the debt financing. Monteris Medical is a medical device company that develops treatments for brain lesions. Update: The company has raised US$34.5 million in funding from Canadian and U.S. venture capital firms since 2001.
3 min read · 22 October 2013
Montréal-based specialty menswear brand Samuelsohn has completed its previously announced purchase of the clothing assets, license and Rochester, New York manufacturing facilities of Hickey Freeman. The seller in the undisclosed transaction was W Diamond Group. As part of the deal, Samuelsohn, a portfolio company of Canadian private equity firm Grano Retail Investments, will enter into a 40-year licensing agreement with Hickey Freeman brand owner Authentic Brands Group, a portfolio company of U.S. private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners and Knight's Bridge Capital Partners.
4 min read · 22 October 2013
The Container Store Inc is planning to sell 12.5 million shares in an initial public offering, with the proceeds to be used to pay a dividend to its private equity owner, Leonard Green & Partners LP, according to an SEC filing.
1 min read · 22 October 2013
Canso Select Opportunities Fund debuted its IPO today on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The fund raised $90 million, offering 8,210,844 Class A shares and 789,156 Class F shares at $10 per share. The stock is trading under the ticker symbol "SCW.UN." RBC Capital Markets is the lead underwriter. Canso Select Opportunities Fund is an Ontario-based investment fund. It is managed by Lysander Funds Limited.
2 min read · 22 October 2013
OneClass has raised $1.6 million in Series A funding. Asian private equity firm SAIF Partners led the round with participation from existing investors, such as Canadian early-stage venture capital firm Real Ventures. Based in Toronto, OneClass is an educational platform that crowdsources university course content. Update: The company is a 2012 graduate of FounderFuel, a Montréal-based accelerator that helps early stage web, mobile and SaaS startups raise seed capital.
2 min read · 22 October 2013
Harvard Management Company, which manages the Ivy League school’s $32.7 billion endowment, said it promoted Lane MacDonald to oversee its private equity investments, sister news service Reuters reported.
2 min read · 21 October 2013
A new report by the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) has found that close to two-thirds of Canadian consumers have been motivated to buy locally in the past year. This is one of five major consumer trends that research indicated should be of interest to growth-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The report also found that SMEs have tended to respond to demand for healthy, well-priced local products, but have given less attention to demand for online retail options.
4 min read · 21 October 2013
