Halifax-based 2nd Act Innovations, Inc. has recruited Reza Kazemipour as CEO and Guillaume Oget as Chief Technology Officer. Both individuals have entrepreneurial experience in Silicon Valley and, in the case of Kazemipour, in Canada. Through its flagship software, Oris4, 2nd Act Innovations provides enterprise content management. The company received seed financing in 2012 from a group of investors, including GrowthWorks Atlantic Venture Fund and InNOVAcorp. Kazemipour is heading up efforts to raise an additional C$5 million.
5 min read · 23 January 2013
Vince Owens, a 25-year medical device industry executive and the founder and managing general partner of US venture capital firm Guide Medical Ventures, has joined the Board of Directors of Functional Neuromodulation, Ltd. Toronto's Functional Neuromodulation, which focuses on advancing innovative neuro-modulation technologies for the treatment of cognitive and memory disorders, has been venture-backed since 2010, when Genesys Capital Partners provided the company with seed financing.
3 min read · 23 January 2013
Canadian private equity firm Pinetree Capital has invested C$1 million in Augusta Industries, Inc., a developer and manufacturer of patented non-intrusive sensing systems. Fox-Tek, Inc., one of the wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Oakville, Ontario-based Augusta, was also backed with investments by Pinetree at the time of the company's launch in 2001.
3 min read · 23 January 2013
Best Buy Capital, the investment arm of retailer Best Buy Co., Inc., made a strategic investment in Solegear Bioplastics, Inc., an engineer, producer and distributor of high-performance bioplastic products based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Terms of the deal were not released. The Best Buy Capital investment follows a Series A financing of Solegear in June, 2012, led by Canadian venture capital firm Yaletown Venture Partners and was joined by a number of angel investors.
2 min read · 23 January 2013
Toronto, Ontario-based hairstylist Topcuts Inc., a portfolio company of Canadian private equity firm Lynx Equity, acquired Melonhead Corp., which operates a chain of hair salons for children. Terms of the acquisition were not published. Lynx Equity is a subsidiary of Succession Capital Corp., a diversified private equity firm.
2 min read · 23 January 2013
Rona, Inc., a distributor and retailer of hardware, home renovation and gardening products, named Robert Chevrier as Executive Chairman of the Board. With the support of its two largest shareholders, including the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Rona will also add eight new board members. The Boucherville, Québec-based company, which faced a C$1.8 billion takeover bid from Lowe's Companies Inc. in 2012, is also recruiting a new CEO.The Boucherville, Québec-based company, which faced a C$1.8 billion takeover bid from Lowe's Companies Inc. in 2012, is also recruiting a new CEO.
7 min read · 23 January 2013
Hazmasters, Inc., a Pickering, Ontario-based supplier of products used to ensure safety throughout various end markets, acquired New Heights Industries, Inc., a professional safety training company located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The financial terms of the transaction were not published. The acquisition of New Heights Industries is Hazmasters' first since the company was successfully recapitalized by U.S. private equity firm Trivest Partners in 2011.
2 min read · 23 January 2013
U.S. private equity firm Kohlberg & Co. has established a secondary offering for shares of Bauer Performance Sports Ltd., a Canadian developer and manufacturer of hockey and lacrosse equipment and apparel. Gross proceeds will total up to C$40 million. Upon completion of the offering, Kohlberg's ownership interest in Bauer will be reduced to 32.3 percent. Kohlberg and Roustan Capital acquired Bauer in a corporate carve-out deal in 2008. In 2011, Bauer raised C$75 million in an initial public offering.
3 min read · 23 January 2013
Listed Canadian merchant bank Difference Capital Funding completed several new transactions involving clean-tech, media and other technology companies in Canada, the U.S. and other countries. Among the announced deals was a C$4 million equity investment in Thunderbird Films, Inc., a media production, distribution and rights management company based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The investment gave Difference Capital a 15.2% stake in Thunderbird.
6 min read · 23 January 2013
2 min read · 23 January 2013
