Burlington, Ontario-based National 4 Wheel Drive, a retailer of aftermarket parts and accessories for trucks, Jeeps, and SUVs in Canada, has been bought by Transamerican Auto Parts Co. LLC, which operates in the same sector. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Compton, California-based Transamerican is a portfolio investment of U.S. private equity firm Irving Place Capital, which acquired the company in 2005.
3 min read · 25 April 2013
Toronto-based ViXS Systems Inc., a semiconductor company which designs and develops high-performance media solutions, has entered into a going-public transaction whereby a subsidiary of ViXS will amalgamate with capital pool company W7 Acquisition Corp. Upon completion of the transaction, W7 shareholders will ultimately receive common shares of the publicly-traded ViXS. ViXS was founded in 2001 with the backing of Celtic House Venture Partners. Its other investors include Export Development Canada, New Enterprise Associates and Novacap.
4 min read · 25 April 2013
Financial institution and economic development agency Investissement Québec announced that the government of Québec will provide support for three business incubators to be located in Shawinigan, Trois-Rivières and Bécancour. The government's contribution, which could amount to as much as 25% of the costs of projects under development, is intended to help stimulate entrepreneurial activity in the regions.
4 min read · 25 April 2013
Vancouver's Layer 7 Technologies Inc., a provider of application programming interface management and security, has agreed to be acquired by CA Technologies Inc., an Islandia, New York-based software company. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Founded in 2002, Layer 7 obtained its seed-stage financing in 2003 from BDC Venture Capital and GrowthWorks. The company's other major backer was U.S. venture capital firm Shoreline Venture Management.
4 min read · 25 April 2013
Publicly-traded Softchoice Corp., a Toronto-based provider of IT solutions and services has agreed to be taken private by Canadian buyout firm Birch Hill Equity Partners. Under the terms of the agreement, Birch Hill will buy all of the company's common shares for $20.00 per share, representing total equity value of approximately $412 million. The deal, which has been recommended by Softchoice's board of directors, will be voted on by shareholders at a special meeting expected to occur in June, 2013.
6 min read · 25 April 2013
Shareholders of Montréal-based Victhom Human Bionics Inc. have approved the company's sale to Ergoresearch Ltd., a medical devices company located in Laval, Québec. The total consideration of the transaction is $4.1 million. Victhom, which focuses on innovative products in the field of orthotics and prosthetics, was backed since 2002 by Canadian venture capital firms, including Fondation (CSN) and Fonds de solidarité des travailleurs du Québec (FTQ).
4 min read · 25 April 2013
Innoventé Inc., a Québec City-based provider of technologies for producing green energy from organic residues, announced that it has raised up to $3 million in debt financing from Farm Credit Canada. The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec made an equity investment in the publicly-owned Innoventé earlier in 2013.
2 min read · 25 April 2013
LX Ventures, a Vancouver-based and publicly-traded business incubator, announced this week that it intends to acquire Vancouver-based Mobio Technologies Inc., a developer of identity and trust solutions to protect people, property and organizations. LX Ventures will be acquiring Mobio approximately $400 K of its own shares, plus revenue sharing. Mobio is a portfolio company of Rho Canada Ventures and previously received venture investments in 2011 and 2012.
3 min read · 25 April 2013
Sarona Asset Management, a Canadian private equity firm focused on frontier and emerging markets, has invested $750,000 in Khyati Foods Ltd. The investment in Khyati, a Mumbai, India-based company which processes organic cotton and soybeans, was made alongside Sarona's private equity partner, SEAF Agribusiness India Fund. Sarona has offices in Waterloo, Ontario and the Netherlands.
2 min read · 24 April 2013
Vancouver-based viDA Therapeutics Inc., a company focused on development and commercialization of novel and targeted therapeutics for the treatment of inflammatory and age related diseases, has obtained additional seed-stage funding totaling $750,000 from BDC Venture Capital. The new tranche brings the company's total venture capital financing to date to $3.7 million. Proceeds of the investment will allow viDA to enter the next phases of its research and development.
3 min read · 24 April 2013
