Manufacturers looking for modest bolt-on deals giving them a technical edge are forecast to keep up a steady pace of acquisitions in Europe’s engineering industry this year, with recent cost-cutting meaning plenty of assets are up for grabs, sister news service Reuters reported.
3 min read · 23 August 2013
RBC Generator, the impact investing arm of RBC's Social Finance Initiative, has committed $500,000 to MaRS Cleantech Fund, a $30 million private partnership founded last year by Toronto-based innovation hub MaRS Discovery District. MaRS Cleantech Fund, profiled in July by peHUB Canada, provides early-stage funding to companies developing next-generation clean-tech breakthroughs. RBC's Social Finance Initiative was capitalized with $20 million in 2012 to promote Canadian social and environmental change through private investment activity.
4 min read · 23 August 2013
Enterprise tag management platform TagMan has secured US$5 million in Series B financing. Existing investors Greycroft Partners and Canadian venture capital firm iNovia Capital led the deal, with the participation of Silicon Valley Bank. The company, which has offices in New York and London, will use the funds to ramp up growth of its global partnership program, STREAM, and to support the growth of its customer base. TagMan closed a US$2.3 million Series A round in January.
4 min read · 23 August 2013
The proposed acquisition of Mississauga, Ontario-based CML HealthCare Inc. (TSX:CLC), a diagnostic lab and medical imaging provider, by LifeLabs Medical Laboratory Services Inc. has been cleared by the federal competition bureau. In July, LifeLabs offered to buy CML for $10.75 per share, or $1.22 billion in total. The company's shareholders will now consider the deal at a meeting scheduled for September 3, 2013. Toronto-based LifeLabs, formerly MDS Diagnostic Services, was bought by Borealis Infrastructure, the investment arm of Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, in 2007.
2 min read · 23 August 2013
Pathlight Capital LLC, a portfolio company of New York-based private equity firm Sycamore Partners, said Friday that it will provide a US$28 million secured term loan to Birks & Mayors Inc. The junior capital division of Wells Fargo Capital Finance will serve as the co-collateral agent on the loan. Headquartered in Montréal, Birks & Mayors is a retailer of fine jewelry. Pathlight Capital is a Boston-based commercial financial lender.
3 min read · 23 August 2013
TPG Capital may need more time to invest its last buyout fund, but the firm is expected to kick off fundraising for its next distressed pool, sister website peHUB reported.
2 min read · 22 August 2013
Intelligent Imaging Systems (IIS) and its subsidiary, Drivewyze, said Thursday that it has received US$7.5 million in Series A financing. Emergence Capital Partners and iNovia Capital led the round. The funding will be used for product development in addition to sales and marketing expansion. Headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta and Burlingame, Calif., IIS and Drivewyze are providers of transportation technology. Update: IIS and Drivewyze were previously backed by BDC Subordinate Financing, the quasi-equity investment arm of the Business Development Bank of Canada.
4 min read · 22 August 2013
Senior executives of Calgary-based Westaim Corp. (TSX Venture: WED) have acquired common shares held by affiliates of the Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) at a price of $0.03 per share. The investment bought represents approximately 44.3% of the total number of issued and outstanding shares of the company. In 2010, AIMCo invested in Westaim in support of the company's acquisition of JEVCO Insurance Co. for $264 million. JEVCO was sold in 2012.
3 min read · 21 August 2013
Pest and termite control provider Terminix, a subsidiary brand of Memphis, Tennessee-based The ServiceMaster Co., has acquired substantially all of the assets of Magical Pest Control, which is located in Toronto. The acquisition price was not disclosed. Founded in 1997, Magical Pest Control provides commercial and residential pest control services in Canada. ServiceMaster was acquired by U.S. private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice for US$5.5 billion in July 2007.
3 min read · 21 August 2013
Markham, Ontario's Serruya family, which manages a private equity fund that invests in retail franchises, has bought a controlling interest in Kahala Corp., a Scottsdale, Arizona-based franchise fast food restaurant company, writes The Globe and Mail. The acquisition price was not disclosed. Kahala owns Canadian brand Cold Stone Creamery, an ice cream chain that has a business partnership with Tim Hortons. Toronto-based private equity firm Delavaco Group, which has in past partnered with the Serruya family in other deals, also took a stake in Kahala.
1 min read · 21 August 2013
