Canadian private equity firm Clairvest Group has agreed to sell its interest in Lyophilization Services of New England Inc, a contract manufacturing organization that provides lyophilization services to the biotech, pharmaceutical and medical device industries. Clairvest, which in 2008 acquired a minority stake in Manchester, New Hampshire-based LSNE, said it expects to realize sales proceeds of about $80 million. That compares against the $48.9 million value estimated for the company in December. LSNE will be bought by an affiliate of European private equity firm Permira. The deal is expected to close before the end of June.
2 min read · 27 March 2017
Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) has partnered with Digital Bridge Holdings LLC and TIAA Investments to acquire Vantage Data Centers, a U.S. provider of enterprise data centre solutions. No financial terms were released; however, Reuters reported in January that Digital Bridge had agreed to buy Vantage from Silver Lake for more than US$1 billion. PSP Investments CIO Daniel Garant said the investment is attractive to the Canadian pension fund because of "Vantage's leading market position, in a sector which we believe will grow significantly in the coming years." The company is based in Santa Clara, California.
6 min read · 27 March 2017
Canadian private equity firm Clairvest Group has agreed to sell its interest in Lyophilization Services of New England Inc (LSNE), a contract manufacturing organization that provides lyophilization services to the biotech, pharmaceutical and medical device industries. Clairvest, which in 2008 acquired a minority stake in Manchester, New Hampshire-based LSNE, said it expects to realize sales proceeds of about US$80 million. That compares against the US$48.9 million value estimated for the company in December. LSNE will be bought by an affiliate of European private equity firm Permira. The deal is expected to close before the end of June.
2 min read · 27 March 2017
Montréal software startup Kaloom Inc has raised about $14.3 million (US$10.7 million) in a Series A financing. The round, closed in December, was led by Canadian private equity and venture capital firm Fonds de solidarité FTQ and joined by Somel Investments, MBUZZ Investments, Griffin Capital and other investors. Launched in 2014, Kaloom is building a software networking solution aimed at helping data centres deliver services and applications with higher performance and lower cost. The company, led by Co-Founder and CEO Simon Williams, is currently growing its team in Montréal, where most R&D is undertaken, and in Silicon Valley.
5 min read · 24 March 2017
3 min read · 24 March 2017
Avrio Capital is seeing a lucrative payout on money invested in Farmers Edge following the precision agriculture company’s refinancing earlier this year. Farmers Edge, provider of a digital platform to help farmers boost crop production, in December announced an investment by Fairfax Financial, the holding company of Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa. As part of the deal, Fairfax bought out stakes held by Silicon Valley heavyweight Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Aviro, a Calgary agricultural tech venture firm and one of Farmers Edge’s earliest backers.
3 min read · 24 March 2017
U.S. private equity firm Rhône Capital has partnered with Stephan Crétier, chairman and CEO of Garda World Security Corp, to acquire the interest held in the company by Apax Partners. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which is expected to close in July. GardaWorld, a Montréal-based security services provider, was taken private by Apax, a U.K. private equity firm, in 2012 for $1.1 billion. The company said it has since doubled in size in terms of revenue. Rhône, which acquired a minority stake in GardaWorld last year, will increase its holding to 61 percent with the deal. Crétier and other senior managers will increase their holdings to about 39 percent.
3 min read · 24 March 2017
Laval, Québec biopharmaceutical company Prometic Life Sciences Inc (TSX: PLI) has agreed to receive a $25 million loan from the structured financing affiliate of Thomvest Asset Management, the investment firm of Peter Thomson. The deal will increase Thomvest's total investment in the company to $85 million. Prometic, which is currently focused on developing therapeutics from its plasma-derived and small-molecule platforms, said the funds raised will support the launch of its first commercially-approved drug in Q4 2017. In February, the company secured additional equity from California Capital Equity.
4 min read · 24 March 2017
Fairfax India Holdings Corp, a vehicle launched in 2014 to make private equity and other investments in India, has acquired a 38 percent stake in Bangalore International Airport Ltd, the operator of Kempegowda International Airport, which serves the Bangalore area. The deal, valued at about US$385 million, saw the interest acquired from a subsidiary of GVK Power & Infrastructure Ltd and Flughafen Zürich AG. Fairfax India is an affiliate of Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd, a Toronto holding company. Earlier this year, it acquired a majority stake in Saurashtra Freight Private Ltd.
2 min read · 24 March 2017
RESA Power LLC has acquired Pro-Con Electrical Testing Ltd, a Richmond, British Columbia provider of electrical testing and maintenance services for local electrical power system assets. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which represents RESA’s first expansion into the Canadian market. Based in San Jose, California, RESA is a provider of electrical life-extension products and services. It has been a portfolio company of U.S. private equity firm Audax Private Equity since 2011.
2 min read · 23 March 2017
