NextGen Biofuels Fund, which is managed by Sustainable Development Technology Canada, has contributed $734,500 to support development of a Varennes, Québec-based cellulosic ethanol facility. The facility will be built and operated by Vanerco, a partnership formed by Enerkem Inc, a biofuels and renewable chemicals company, and GreenField Ethanol Inc, a specialty alcohols producer. It could over time access up to $39.8 million in repayable funding. Enerkem is backed by multiple Canadian and U.S. venture capital firms, while GreenField is a portfolio company of Birch Hill Equity Partners and other investors.
4 min read · 02 October 2013
U.S. private equity firm Ares Management and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan have completed their previously announced acquisition of building supplies company CPG International Inc. The deal's value has been estimated at US$1.5 billion. The seller was U.S. private equity firm AEA Investors, which bought the Scranton, Penn.-based CPG in 2005. Immediately after the transaction closed, the company was renamed CPG International LLC.
3 min read · 02 October 2013
Canadian pension fund manager the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has bought 12.07% of subordinate voting shares of Manac Inc, following the Saint-Georges-de-Beauce, Québec-based company's closing of an initial public offering in September. Manac, a manufacturer of vans, flatbeds and specialty trailers, expects to raise gross proceeds of up to $42 million. The company is currently a portfolio investment of U.S. private equity firm American Industrial Partners, which acquired a 50% interest in 2012.
2 min read · 02 October 2013
Toronto-based Extreme Startups has redesigned its technology startup accelerator model from a singular 12-week cohort program to three integrated programs centered around a new founder development curriculum. The intention is to increase seed-stage funding opportunities for graduates. The firm also introduced its new managing director Marcus Daniels, a digital product entrepreneur and investor, and its new head of operations and learning Lauren Robinson. Extreme Startups' founding investors are BDC Venture Capital, Extreme Venture Partners, OMERS Ventues, Relay Ventures and Rho Canada Ventures.
3 min read · 02 October 2013
Dublin, Ireland-based information services group Experian plc has agreed to acquire 41st Parameter Inc, a San Jose, Calif.-based specialist in device identification technology and web fraud detection. The acquisition price is US$324 million. Once completed, the transaction will provide exits to a number of venture capital firms and other investors which have backed 41st Parameter since 2005. These include Georgian Partners, a Toronto-based growth equity firm, and Kensington Global Private Equity Fund, which is managed by Canadian alternative assets fund manager Kensington Capital Partners.
4 min read · 02 October 2013
LifeLabs Medical Laboratory Services Inc has completed its previously announced buy of CML HealthCare Inc (TSX:CLC), a Mississauga, Ontario-based diagnostic lab and medical imaging provider, for $10.75 per share, or around $1.2 billion. This is LifeLabs second acquisition in 2013. In April, the Toronto-based company purchased B.C. Biomedical Laboratories Ltd of Vancouver. LifeLabs, formerly MDS Diagnostic Services, was acquired for $1.3 billion by Borealis Infrastructure, the investment arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, in 2007.
4 min read · 02 October 2013
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, in which three private equity firms recently bought stakes, may consider an initial public offering or a strategic sale over the next few years as part of an exit strategy for investors, its CEO said.
3 min read · 02 October 2013
Fidelity Investments, a creditor of Energy Future Holdings Corp, has hired advisers to propose a restructuring plan for the Texas utility in the hope of saving it from a protracted bankruptcy, according to three people close to the matter.
3 min read · 02 October 2013
La Quinta Inns & Suites has attracted interest from a number of potential suitors that could value the Blackstone Group LP-owned budget hotel chain at as much as $4.5 billion, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter, sister news service Reuters reported.
1 min read · 01 October 2013
Innoventé Inc (TSXV: IGE), a Québec City-based producer of electricity from organic wastes and residues, has closed a private placement totaling $1 million. The investor was Canadian pension fund manager the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, which has backed Innoventé since 2011. The new funding will support the ongoing development of the business.
3 min read · 01 October 2013
