U.S. private equity firm Gores Group has sold Millennium1 Solutions, a Toronto-based business process outsourcing solutions provider, to Dimension Data plc, a South African information and communications technology services and solutions business. No financial terms were disclosed. Millennium provides contact centre, credit card, and back office and administration services to Canadian customers in the financial services, insurance and retail sectors. It will be combined with Merchants, Dimension Data's customer management outsourcing solutions affiliate. Gores Group acquired Millennium in 2013, carving it out of Canadian financial technology company DH Corp.
3 min read · 05 June 2018
Canadian alternative equity firm Alaris Royalty Corp has committed an additional US$10 million to C&C Communications LLC (ccComm), a Federal Way, Washington-based Sprint preferred wireless retailer. Alaris, which has backed ccComm since 2016, said the deal's proceeds will fund the company's acquisition of an additional 33 Sprint locations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California, bringing total U.S. locations managed to 96. Alaris has deployed more than $200 million over the past 12 months, including $50 million in follow-on investments in existing portfolio companies.
2 min read · 05 June 2018
U.K. cyber safety company SafeToNet Ltd has acquired VISR Inc, a Toronto-based specialist in using artificial intelligence to detect the emotional well-being of children online. No financial terms were released. SafeToNet, which also announced raising a US$13 million financing led by West Hill Capital, said the buy will broaden the company's technologies and intellectual property and give it a foothold in North America. VISR, founded in 2014 by CEO Robert Reichmann, secured funding from Horizons Ventures, Ontario Centres of Excellence and Ryerson Futures.
6 min read · 05 June 2018
SensorUp, a Calgary Internet of Things (IoT) for geolocation platform, has raised $2 million in a seed-stage financing. The round was led by Vanedge Capital, a Canadian venture capital firm. Founded in 2011 by CEO Steve Liang, SensorUp provides data, analytics and artificial-intelligence solutions that enable organizations to aggregate IoT data from multiple systems and transform them into actionable insights. The company plans to use the funds raised for a go-to-market campaign and to create new solutions for smart cities, first responders and field-service management. Last year, Vanedge closed its second fund, Vanedge Capital II, at $161 million.
3 min read · 05 June 2018
Red Deer, Alberta-based auto finance company Rifco Inc (TSX-V: RFC) has agreed to acquire a $25 million portfolio consisting of more than 1,850 consumer automobile loans. The seller, a competing Canadian auto lender, was not identified. The loans portfolio being acquired, which primarily originated in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario, and which Rifco reports have been "performing consistently through the last year," will grow the company's loan assets by over 10 percent. The deal will be financed in part through the proceeds of loans supplied by U.S. alternative assets manager Ares Management.
4 min read · 04 June 2018
Montréal-based real estate technology company NestReady has raised a new, undisclosed financing that brings its total funding so far to $5.7 million. Investors in the latest round include National Bank of Canada and Peter Aceto, former CEO of Tangerine (ING Direct). The company has previously been backed by TechStars, 500 Startups, BDC Capital, 7Seas Partners, Stage1Ventures, NXT Ventures and angel investors. Founded in 2012, NestReady's platform streamlines the home-buying process to include everything from home search and property visits to selecting agents and financing. The funds raised will be used to advance artificial intelligence capabilities.
3 min read · 04 June 2018
Canadian private equity firm Onex Corp has made a US$175 million long-term investment in Ryan Specialty Group LLC (RSG), a Chicago-based specialty insurance organization that provides solutions for brokers, agents and insurance carriers. Onex is investing US$150 million of preferred equity and US$25 million of common equity on a direct basis. Founded in 2010 by Chairman and CEO Patrick Ryan, RSG's global operation includes a wholesale brokerage firm, RT Specialty, and a collection of managing general underwriting companies within RSG Underwriting Managers. Last year, Onex closed its fifth flagship fund, Onex Partners V, raising US$7.15 billion.
3 min read · 04 June 2018
IPL Plastics Inc (IPLP), a Montréal-based packaging solutions provider, has priced its proposed initial public offering of common shares at between $13.50 and $16 per unit. This will generate proceeds of about $180 million, not including the greenshoe option. With the IPO's close, IPLP backers Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and Fonds de solidarité FTQ will respectively hold stakes of 28 percent to 28.9 percent and 6 percent to 6.2 percent. CDPQ and the Fonds have invested in the company's affiliate, Ireland's IPL Plastics plc, since 2015, when as One51 plc it acquired Saint-Damien Québec-based IPL Inc from Novacap for about $280 million.
5 min read · 04 June 2018
U.S. private equity firm Wind Point Partners has partnered with Matt Miller to buy Pestell Group, a New Hamburg, Ontario-based animal feed ingredients distributor and cat litter manufacturer. Terms weren't disclosed. Pestell consists of two businesses, Pestell Minerals and Ingredients and Pestell Pet Products, founded respectively in 1972 and 1990 by Don Pestell. Miller, a consumer packaged goods executive and senior advisor to Wind Point since 2016, joins the company as CEO. Wind Point Managing Director Paul Peterson said his firm will focus on backing Pestell's organic and acquisition-based growth potential. The deal's debt financing was supplied by Antares Capital and BMO Sponsor Finance.
4 min read · 04 June 2018
Canadian private equity firm TorQuest Partners has wrapped up its sale of WSB Titan, a Toronto-based building supplies dealer, to GMS Inc (NYSE: GMS), a Tucker, Georgia-based distributor of gypsum wallboard and suspended ceiling systems. The deal, announced in April, is valued at about $800 million (US$627 million). It brings the combined revenue of GMS to about US$3 billion and increases the company's North American operation to more than 240 branches in 42 states and five Canadian provinces. Doug Skrepnek, Titan's CEO, now becomes president of GMS Canada. TorQuest has backed Titan since 2016.
2 min read · 04 June 2018
