The Government of Canada has invested $474,000 in semiosBIO Technologies Inc. The investment is being made by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), and will be used by semiosBio Technologies for product development. Based in Vancouver, semiosBIO Technologies is a developer and provider of pest control solutions. Update: FedDev Ontario's investment helped leverage an additional $948,000 from members of the Niagara Angel Network, bringing total funding to $1.4 million.
3 min read · 23 July 2013
Shareholders of Sprott Resource Lending Corp. (SRL) have approved the previously-announced takeover of the company by Toronto-based alternative assets manager Sprott Inc. SRL provides debt financing to mining and oil and gas companies. Sprott estimates the deal will generate $350 million in cash and investment capital, which will allow it to sponsor new fund initiatives and continue the business of resource lending.
4 min read · 23 July 2013
U.S. manufacturer Crane Co. can proceed with its US$820 million buy of MEI Group, a portfolio company of Bain Capital and Advantage Partners, now that the company has agreed to sell Canadian and German subsidiary assets, reports Reuters. European regulators approved the deal on the condition that CashCode, a Toronto-based company focused on bill validation and recycling devices, and Germany's National Rejectors, are divested to ease competition concerns. CashCode was acquired by Crane for US$86 million in 2006. The MEI acquisition was announced in December 2012.
1 min read · 23 July 2013
Tricon Capital Group (TSX: TCN) a Canadian private equity firm focused on the real estate sector, has acquired up to a 68.4% interest in Tricon IX LP, a US$333 million U.S. distressed residential development fund managed by the firm. The purchase price will be approximately US$261 million, and will be financed by a bought deal offering and revolving credit facility. One of Tricon IX's largest LPs will continue to hold its 31.6% ownership interest in the fund alongside Tricon.
10 min read · 23 July 2013
At least four peers of Europe’s biggest bathroom equipment maker Grohe submitted exploratory offers for the private-equity owned company by a deadline for bids, two sources familiar with the deal told Reuters.
1 min read · 22 July 2013
Strateco Resources Inc., a portfolio company of The Sentient Group, said that it has named Charles Riopel as a director of the company, filling one vacant seat on its board of directors. The appointment was effective July 9, 2013. Based in Boucherville, Québec, Strateco Resources is a uranium exploration company. The Sentient Group, which has offices in Australia, Canada and Germany, is a private equity firm that focuses on the global resources sector.
2 min read · 22 July 2013
Geomega Resources Inc. has named Paul-Henri Couture to its board of directors, effective immediately. Couture is currently president of Minvest Capital, a management and investment consulting services company, and was previously with private equity firm The Sentient Group, and with the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. Based in Montreal, Québec, Geomega Resources is a mineral exploration and development company.
3 min read · 22 July 2013
Euro Pacific Canada has opened a new office in Tokyo, Japan. It will be headed by Shinichi Muto and supported by Blair Jordan in Euro Pacific Canada’s Vancouver office. The Japan office will provide advisory services to companies seeking access to Japanese strategic investors, and to Japanese companies conducting outbound mergers, acquisitions and investments. Headquartered in Toronto, Euro Pacific Canada is a Canadian registered brokerage firm.
3 min read · 22 July 2013
Givers of gift cards seldom experience the joy of knowing when the cards are used. Enter Kiind, a seven-person startup in Victoria, British Columbia that allows people to email gift cards that are paid for only when the receiver chooses to use the gift.
4 min read · 21 July 2013
BioAmber Inc. (NYSE and EURONEXT Paris: BIOA), a company focused on converting renewable feedstock into chemicals, has closed a US$25 million term loan with U.S. specialty finance firm Hercules Technology Growth Capital. The debt facility will provide capital needed to construct and start a 30,000 metric ton bio-succinic acid facility in Sarnia, Ontario. The venture-backed BioAmber, which has offices in Montréal and Minneapolis, Minnesota, raised US$71.9 million from its initial public offering in May 2013.
3 min read · 19 July 2013
