Venture capital (VC) deal-making in Canada shot up in the first quarter of 2013, reports Thomson Reuters (publisher of peHUB Canada). Dollars invested totaled $460 million, up 55% from the year before, while companies financed grew 17%. Market activity was led in clean-tech sectors, which accounted for $180 million invested, or 39% of the total. IT-related activity took second spot, with $143 million invested, or one-third of all disbursements. VC-backed exits also rose sharply in Q1 2013, while fund-raising declined 44%.
5 min read · 17 May 2013
Buyout and related private equity (PE) deal-making in Canada moderated in the first quarter of 2013, reports Thomson Reuters (publisher of peHUB Canada). Deal volume declined 47% year over year, however, disclosed deal values, totaling $2.1 billion, were on par with activity in Q1 2012. Natural resource sectors accounted for the largest shares of both transactions and dollar flows. Liquidity events were steady in Q1 2013, as were new commitments to Canadian buyout-PE funds, which totaled $1.1 billion.
4 min read · 17 May 2013
Net assets of the Canada Pension Plan Fund (CPP) totaled $183.3 billion at the end of its fiscal year in March 2013, increasing $21.7 billion year over year, reports CPP Investment Board (CPPIB). The fund's investment portfolio also delivered a gross return of 10.1%, up from fiscal 2012's 6.6%. CPPIB president and CEO Mark Wiseman expressed the "strong conviction" that "our private market assets will outperform the public markets equivalents of the CPP Reference Portfolio over the long term."
5 min read · 17 May 2013
Canadian private equity firm Catalyst Capital Group welcomed the recent agreement in which TELUS Corp. will acquire Toronto's Mobilicity, a.k.a. Data & Audio-Visual Enterprises Wireless Inc. for $380 million. The firm is Mobilicity's largest debt holder. Catalyst also expressed the view that Canada's wireless sector "can support an independent, strong, national fourth carrier" and offered its restructuring and telecom expertise to "the right player.
2 min read · 17 May 2013
The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC)'s recent consultation on crowdfunding options received "favourable comments" reports law firm Osler Hoskin & Harcourt. Osler noted 100 responses to the OSC, most of which supported its crowdfunding exemption proposal, though some had concerns about investor-protection issues. With respect to crowdfunding's role in small business financing, feedback identified a "gap" in the $1 million to $2 million range that could be addressed, though there were also warnings about "difficult governance structures" that might result.
9 min read · 17 May 2013
Ottawa, Ontario-based Halogen Software Inc. has filed the company's final prospectus in connection with its initial public offering. At an offering price of $11.50 per share, Halogen will debut on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol HGN and will realize gross proceeds of approximately $50 Million. Halogen, a provider of talent management and human resources software, has been venture-backed since 1999. Its investors included Covington Funds and JMI Equity.
3 min read · 17 May 2013
Canadian mid-market private equity firm Fulcrum Capital Partners has made a $20 million equity investment in Tradesmen Enterprises LP, a facilities and pipeline construction contractor with a particular focus on modular fabrication based in Grand Prairie, Alberta. Founded in 2006, Tradesmen recently expanded the company's service area and has established site offices in both Chetwynd and Fort Nelson, British Columbia.
1 min read · 17 May 2013
Tao Liu, managing partner of the Sino-Canada Natural Resources Fund, has been appointed co-chairman and director of Pacific Potash Corp., which is focused on exploration and development of the Amazonas Basin Project. The Sino-Canada fund, which makes private equity investments in Canadian resource extraction companies on behalf of Chinese investors, recently backed the Vancouver-based Pacific Potash.
4 min read · 17 May 2013
The April acquisition of Vancouver's Layer 7 Technologies Inc., a provider of application programming interface management and security, by CA Technologies Inc., an Islandia, New York-based software developer, has been estimated at around $180 million. That is according to a recent report by The Vancouver Sun, which said "industry watchers" priced the deal near a comparable acquisition involving San Francisco API management company Mashery Inc., which also took place last month. Founded in 2002, Layer 7 was backed by BDC Venture Capital, GrowthWorks and Shoreline Venture Management.
1 min read · 17 May 2013
Rogers Ventures, the venture capital arm of Rogers Communications Inc., joined Panorama Capital in a US$15 million Series E financing of New York-based Zoove Corp., which operates StarStar and StarStarMe, a mobile phone number service. The company also received investment from Worldview Technology Partners and Highland Capital Partners. The new funds will support Zoove's continued growth, with emphasis on product expansion, business development and marketing.
5 min read · 16 May 2013
