Purpose Financial LP, the parent company of Purpose Investments and other affiliates, has agreed to buy Thinking Capital Financial Corp, a Montréal-based provider of small business loans and funding solutions online. No financial terms were released; however, the Globe and Mail said the cash-and-securities deal is valued at over $200 million. Purpose Financial, a Toronto-based financial services firm led by CEO Som Seif, said the buy will create an innovative financial services platform with a "significant balance sheet strength, strong financial backing, and a diversified funding model." TorQuest Partners, which has backed Thinking Capital since 2014, will retain a stake in the business.
3 min read · 09 March 2018
Canadian specialty tea and tea accessory retailer DavidsTea Inc (Nasdaq: DTEA) said Herschel Segal, who co-founded the company in 2008, has resigned from the board. In a letter to the board on behalf of Rainy Day Investments (RDI), Segal announced the beginning of a process to explore a privatization deal for DavidsTea. RDI, which is controlled by Segal, will present a proposal to buy out minority investors or pursue an alternative deal. Montréal-based DavidsTea went public in 2015. U.S. growth equity firm Highland Consumer Partners backed the company prior to the initial public offering and continues to hold a stake.
3 min read · 09 March 2018
Canadian specialty finance firm TIMIA Capital Corp has provided a $2 million funding facility to Parkbench Inc, a Toronto discovery service for local events, deals, news and real estate. The revenue-based facility includes a first investment of $1 million and a further $1 million to be deployed when milestones are met. Parkbench, launched in 2014 by CEO Grant Findlay-Shirras and CMO Amanda Newman, targets its online service to real estate agents and mortgage brokers. In 2016, the company secured financing from U.S. accelerator and venture capital firm 500 Startups.
3 min read · 08 March 2018
Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) reported an investment rate of return of 10.88 percent last year, which exceeded its portfolio benchmark by 2.99 percent. The pension fund's 10-year annualized return is 9.55 percent, while its 20-year annualized return is 9.01 percent. Investment income, which reached $7.6 billion at the end of 2017, helped push HOOPP's net assets to $77.8 billion. Strong performance was shown by most asset classes, HOOPP reported, including private equity, which returned 19.6 percent on a currency-hedged basis.
3 min read · 08 March 2018
The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) has entered into a partnership with Women's Enterprise Organizations of Canada (WECO) to support women entrepreneurs and increase their financing opportunities. BDC will work with five WEOC member organizations and some 90,000 women business owners who work with WEOC members at the national level. The agreement adds to BDC's other commitments, including a new target of $1.4 billion in lending to women-led businesses by 2021, announced in last week's federal Budget 2018, and $200 million of investment in women-led technology companies.
3 min read · 08 March 2018
Toronto-based mining company Victoria Gold Corp (TSX-V: VIT) has agreed to a $505 million financing package to fund development of its Eagle Gold project in Yukon through to commercial production. The package, which includes credit facilities, equipment financing, royalty financing and a private placement, will be backed by U.S. private equity firm Orion Mine Finance Group, Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd and Caterpillar Financial Services Ltd. Orion's contribution will consist of US$175 million of project finance and subordinated debt facilities and $75 million of equity. First gold pour from the Eagle project is expected in the second half of 2019.
7 min read · 08 March 2018
3 min read · 08 March 2018
3 min read · 08 March 2018
Vancouver-based connected car platform Mojio Inc has raised an undisclosed investment from European venture capital firm Iris Capital and Telus Ventures, the strategic venture capital arm of Telus Corp. The investment, which tops up the company's $30 million Series B financing, closed late last year, will help Mojio accelerate adoption of its connected car solutions for mobile network operators and automotive makers in North America and Europe. Founded in 2012, Mojio's other backers include Amazon Alexa Fund, BDC Capital, Deutsche Telekom, innogy Ventures, Kensington Capital Partners, Relay Ventures and Trend Forward Capital.
5 min read · 08 March 2018
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan has agreed to sell a majority interest in U.S. dental support organization Heartland Dental to KKR. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which will see Ontario Teachers' retain a "sizeable ownership". It is expected to close in the second quarter. Founded in 1997, Effingham, Illinois-based Heartland provides non-clinical administrative support services to U.S. dental offices representing a network of over 1,300 dentists. Ontario Teachers' acquired control of the business in 2012 in a deal reportedly valued at US$1.3 billion. Since then, the number of dental offices supported by Heartland more than doubled.
5 min read · 07 March 2018
