North Plains Systems Inc., a Toronto-based marketing company, has acquired VYRE, Inc., a U.K.-based maker of marketing resource management and brand asset management software. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. UPDATE: North Plains is a portfolio company of Accel-KKR LLC, a technology-focused private equity firm based in Menlo Park, California. Accel-KKR first invested in North Plains in 2011.
4 min read · 06 December 2012
Frontenac Co., a 41-year-old firm that has faced serious challenges in the last decade, is looking to raise another fund, which would likely extend the Chicago-based shop’s life past the half-century mark.
2 min read · 06 December 2012
Just three months after raising startup capital from iNovia Capital , parcel storage service Bufferbox of Waterloo, Ontario, has been acquired by Google for a reported US$17 million.
1 min read · 06 December 2012
Blue Ant Media Inc., a Toronto-based media company, announced it has acquired Cottage Life Media Inc., which publishes "Cottage Life," "Cottage, Outdoor Canada" and "Canadian Home Workshop," and produces the Spring & Fall Cottage Life consumer shows. Blue Ant is backed by a number of investors, including Canadian private equity fund manager Kensington Capital Partners, which made a direct investment in the company in late 2011.
3 min read · 06 December 2012
Canadian buyout firm Novacap announced it will acquire Bentley Leathers, Inc., a North American retailer of luggage and related accessories based in Saint-Laurent, Québec. Bentley, which is associated with a number of brands, including Bentley, Access, and Unic, will also have a new CEO: David Margolis, a well-known figure in the Canadian retail sector, who was recruited by Novacap. The deal is expected to close in early 2013.
3 min read · 06 December 2012
Whistler Blackcomb Holdings Inc. announced the appointment of Jeremy Black as senior vice president and CFO, effective Jan. 14, 2013. The appointment comes on the heels of KSL Capital Partners' acquisition of a 24% interest in the popular Canadian ski resort. At the time of the Denver, Colo.-based KSL's purchase, senior managers of Whistler Blackcomb, including CEO and director Bill Jensen, resigned. The company's new CEO, Dave Brownlie, previously acted as chief operating officer. Whistler Blackcomb has links with Intrawest Corp., owned by Fortress Investment Group.
3 min read · 06 December 2012
Private equity investor Swander Pace Capital, which focuses on investments in mid-market consumer products firms, announced the acquisition of Toronto's Benevito Foods Inc. by Pineridge Bakery Inc., also of Toronto. Pineridge, which oversees baked-goods manufacturers Gourmet Baker and Oakrun Farm Bakery, has been a portfolio firm of Swander Pace and Roynat Equity Partners since 2007. Benevito Foods previously received financing from NorthSpring Capital Partners.
1 min read · 06 December 2012
ABRY Partners IV, L.P and Oak Hill Capital Partners have sold all of the shares of Atlantic Broadband Group, a cable system operator, to Cogeco Cables. The transaction is valued at $1,360 million or 8.3x 2013E EBITDA. Cogeco is a Canada-based cable system operator.
2 min read · 06 December 2012
A consortium led by Canadian private equity firm KingSett Capital said on Wednesday it plans to make an offer to acquire Primaris Retail Real Estate Investment Trust in a deal valued at about C$4.4 billion, Reuters wrote. The cash offer of C$26 per unit represents a premium of about 12.8 percent to Primaris's closing price of C$23.04 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Tuesday.
1 min read · 05 December 2012
Earlier this year I wrote about a rift forming among small and large investors, given the more favorable fees large investors can command in limited partnership negotiations. Now a presentation by one of the deepest-pocketed limited partners shows just how much leverage large investors are wielding.
3 min read · 04 December 2012
