Ontario public sector pension plan OPSEU Pension Trust (OPTrust) reported gross investment returns of 10.1% for 2012, surpassing its funding target return and composite benchmark. Partly as a result, the plan's net assets increased by $1 billion year over year to $14.7 billion as of December 31st. OPTrust's infrastructure portfolio led performance, with a return of 23.7%. Private equity and real estate investments had similarly good results, returning 20.5% and 17.9%, respectively.
3 min read · 01 May 2013
Salim Hemdani has been appointed as vice president of software development of Mixpo Inc. Based in Seattle, Washington and with an office in Victoria, British Columbia, Mixpo is a cloud-based video marketing and analytics platform that helps businesses develop video advertisements. The company is backed by a variety of Canadian venture capital firms, including GrowthWorks, SpringBank Tech Ventures, and Yaletown Venture Partners.
3 min read · 30 April 2013
Halifax, Nova Scotia-based ABK Biomedical Inc., a medical device company focused on the treatment of uterine fibroids, a medical condition affecting 40% women over the age of 35, has secured funding totaling $1.25 million from investors based in Atlantic Canada. Venture capital firm Innovacorp accounted for a $250,000 equity investment, which is part of a larger financing round completed in late 2012. ABK will use the proceeds of these funds to further develop and market its products worldwide.
3 min read · 30 April 2013
U.S. private equity firm Resource Capital Funds (RCF) announced it is "extremely disappointed" in the decision of its portfolio company, Selwyn Resources Ltd., to delay holding board elections. RCF said it "fears that the current illegitimate board cannot be trusted with the assets of Selwyn any longer." The Vancouver-based Selywn is a metals exploration and development company with a core zinc-lead project located in Yukon, the sale of which is in contention.
3 min read · 30 April 2013
Priviti Capital Corp., a Calgary-based private equity firm focused on the energy market, is launching a new retail fund, Priviti Oil & Gas Opportunities Limited Partnership 2013. The firm has filed a preliminary prospectus for an initial public offering, targeting a maximum offering of $100 million. The investment strategy of the new fund will be similar to that of Priviti Oil & Gas Opportunities Limited Partnership 2011, which raised $57.5 million.
2 min read · 30 April 2013
Calgary-based eThor Inc., a company that provides a two-way communication layer integrating social media channels and mobile devices with retail point-of-sale (POS) systems, has attracted a $1 million investment from Canadian early-stage venture capital firm AVAC. The private start-up company will use proceeds from the funding to execute on its existing sales pipeline and forge new partnerships in the POS industry.
2 min read · 30 April 2013
Radiant Communications Corp., a Vancouver-based provider of managed network and cloud hosting solutions, has terminated the March agreement to be 100% acquired by Canadian private equity firms Maxam Capital Corp. and PenderFund Capital Management. The decision follows a subsequent offer made in April by Frontier Networks Inc., a custom data and networking programs company based in Toronto. Radiant indicated that a committee of its independent directors had determined Frontier's was the "superior proposal."
2 min read · 30 April 2013
Homburg Invest Inc., a Dartmouth, Nova Scotia-based manager, acquirer and developer of real estate, has ended discussions with private equity firm Catalyst Capital Group, which specializes in control investments in distressed and undervalued situations. As the company and Catalyst were unable to reach agreement, Homburg has filed an amended restructuring plan and related materials to parties to Companies Creditors' Arrangement Act proceedings.
2 min read · 30 April 2013
Toronto-based mobile service provider Mobilicity, a.k.a. Data & Audio-Visual Enterprises Wireless Inc., has formally entered a restructuring process after obtaining orders of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice that authorize the company to call meetings. There, recapitalization and sales plans will be determined by debt holders pursuant to the Canada Business Corporations Act. Mobilicity has been a portfolio company of U.S. private equity firm Quadrangle Capital Partners since 2008.
2 min read · 30 April 2013
Houston, Texas-based private equity firm Quantum Energy Partners has made a majority investment in Carmel Bay Exploration Ltd., the firm announced. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Carmel Bay is a Calgary-based upstream exploration and development company focused on acquiring and developing assets in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. The company was founded in late 2011.
3 min read · 30 April 2013
