Canadian royalty financing firm Grenville Strategic Royalty Corp has led a US$500,000 royalty investment in Factor75 LLC, an online personalized chef service based in Chicago. Grenville partnered in the funding deal with Foregrowth Holdco Inc and Darwin Strategic Royalty Corp. Grenville established a joint venture with Foregrowth, an affiliate of Gravitas Ilium Corp, and Darwin in October. Founded in 2011, Factor75 prepares and delivers meals throughout the United States.
2 min read · 19 December 2016
Calgary oilfield services company Ideal Completions Group LLC has agreed to acquire the Canadian and U.S. flowback and production testing assets of Cathedral Energy Services Ltd. In a separate statement, Cathedral said the deal has a total cash consideration of $17.8 million. The acquisition, expected to close in January, will be funded by Ideal management and an affiliate of Edge Natural Resources, a U.S. energy private equity firm. Led by President Rutger Niers, Ideal said it has access to additional capital to expand its flowback business in North America.
2 min read · 19 December 2016
Cinnos Mission Critical Inc has raised more than $2.3 million in financing from angel investors and Ontario Centres of Excellence. The round was led by Angel One Investor Network, an angel organization active in southern Ontario. Founded in 2015, Hamilton, Ontario-based Cinnos has developed and commercialized a data centre appliance that enables immediate and cost-effective deployment of computing infrastructures. Led by CEO Hussam Haroun, the company's founder, it plans to use the funds raised to build the next generation of its technology and expand globally.
4 min read · 19 December 2016
The private equity group of Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan has closed its acquisition of the Canadian wine business of Constellation Brands Inc. The deal, announced in October, was valued at $1.03 billion. Ontario Teachers' did the deal in partnership with Constellation Brands Canada's management. The acquired assets include wine brands, such as Jackson-Triggs and Inniskillin, as well as wineries, vineyards, offices, facilities, and Wine Rack retail stores. Ontario Teachers' said the business is the leader in Canada with about three times the market share of its closest competitor.
2 min read · 19 December 2016
Boston asset manager HarbourVest Partners has promoted Senia Rapisarda to managing director, Canada. Rapisarda, who previously served as a principal, leads HarbourVest Canada Growth Fund, a venture fund of funds that raised $375 million in April 2015. She is credited with building HarbourVest's market presence in Canada. Rapisarda joined the firm in 2014 from BDC Capital's venture capital group. Prior to then, she worked for a number of global firms, including Nur Energie, a British venture investor in the solar energy industry.
4 min read · 19 December 2016
Canadian medical device company Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc has agreed to be bought by a consortium led by U.S. healthcare investment firm Vivo Capital and China's ZQ Capital. The latter are joined by GSO Capital Partners, China Orient Asset Management (International) Holding and Fung Shing Investments. Terms were not released for the deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2016. Vancouver-based Angiotech develops and makes branded, private label, and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) surgical instruments. Its existing investors include Blue Mountain Capital, Courage Capital Management and Cetus Capital.
5 min read · 19 December 2016
Canadian biotechnology startup Northern Biologics Inc has merged with Mosaic Biomedicals SL, a Spanish developer of personalized cancer treatments. U.S. venture capital firm Versant Ventures, which invested in Northern's launch in 2013, backed the merger alongside of Celgene Corp (NASDAQ: CELG). In a separate release, Northern said the merger enables the development of MSC-1, a humanized antibody expected to begin clinical trials in cancerous tumor types in 2017. Versant, which earlier this month invested in BlueRock Therapeutics' US$225 million round, said its latest investment in Northern brings its Canadian portfolio to more than $500 million.
4 min read · 19 December 2016
Canadian private equity firm Onex Corp has agreed to acquire Parkdean Resorts UK Ltd, owner and operator of 73 caravan holiday parks across England, Scotland and Wales. Onex agreed to pay about $2.25 billion (£1.35 billion), Reuters reported, in a deal that is expected to close in Q1 2017. Onex has committed to invest US$750 million of equity in the acquisition. Tony Morgan, a managing director at Onex, said the Toronto firm plans to support Parkdean Resorts' growth, both organically and through add-on deals. Earlier this month, Onex closed its US$1.37 billion acquisition of U.S. grocery retailer Save-A-Lot.
3 min read · 19 December 2016
Canadian private equity firm Birch Hill Equity Partners has sold its interest in BIOX Corp (TSX: BX), a Hamilton, Ontario-based producer of biodiesel fuel from a variety of agricultural feedstocks. Birch Hill sold its common shares, representing about 16.2 percent of BIOX's issued and outstanding shares, for about $6.7 million in a private transaction with FP Resources Ltd, an affiliate of Clearwater Fine Foods Inc. In August 2006, Birch Hill invested $48 million in BIOX as part of a $70 million deal.
2 min read · 16 December 2016
Fairfax India Holdings Corp (TSX: FIH.U), an affiliate of Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd, has launched a US$150 million bought deal financing and a US$350 million concurrent private placement. The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) will acquire about 17 million subordinate voting shares as part of the latter offering, which is expected to close in January. Fairfax India was set up in 2014 to make private equity, public equity and debt investments in India. Its recent private deals include April's US$300 million invested in Sanmar Chemicals Group.
3 min read · 15 December 2016
