Dax Dasilva, founder and CEO of Lightspeed, a Montréal cloud point-of-sale platform, has received Startup Canada's "Entrepreneur of the Year Award." Dasilva was honoured at this week's third annual National Startup Canada Awards in Toronto. Lightspeed, which has raised $145 million in total funding, accounted for Canada's largest venture capital deal in 2015. Other Startup Canada award winners included Nadia Hamilton, founder and CEO of Magnusmode, who took the "Woman Entrepreneur Award," and Randy Yatscoff, executive vice president of TEC Edmonton, who took the "Adam Chowaniec Lifetime Achievement Award."
4 min read · 01 December 2016
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan has promoted Jo Taylor to the new role of senior managing director, international, effective January 1st of next year. Taylor, who will be responsible to Bjarne Graven Larsen, hired as Ontario Teachers' CIO in January, will oversee the pension fund's global operations presence in London and Hong Kong. Taylor joined Ontario Teachers' in 2012 and is currently regional managing director for Europe, Middle East and Africa. He previously served as a senior investment executive at several private equity firms, including 3i Group.
3 min read · 01 December 2016
Geneba Properties NV has engaged Credit Suisse as its exclusive financial advisor as the Dutch commercial real estate investment company begins a process of exploring strategic alternatives. Geneba said the alternatives could include an initial public offering, capital increase, merger, sale or other possible deals. All options will be considered in collaboration with its largest shareholder, Canadian private equity firm Catalyst Capital Group. Geneba was recapitalized two years ago and has since been investing in corporate logistics and light industrial real estate, the company said.
3 min read · 01 December 2016
Toronto financial technology startup Dream Payments has raised about $2 million (US$1.5 million), adding to the $6 million raised in March 2015. Dream Payments received the money from Connecticut Innovations (CI) after becoming the 2016 top investment award winner of Connecticut's VentureClash. The funding will accelerate the company's entry into the United States, CI said. Founded in 2014, Dream Payments provides businesses with a cloud-based mobile point-of-sale solution. It is backed by Canadian venture capital firms Blue Sky Capital, Real Ventures and Rouge River Capital, among other investors.
3 min read · 01 December 2016
A new report by the Conference Board of Canada found the financial services industry has been a strong source of growth for the Canadian economy over the past decade. The report, An Engine for Growth: 2016 Report Card on Canada's and Toronto's Financial Services Sector, also found the industry's economic importance is increasing, with its share of jobs, growth, international trade, and outward foreign direction investment (FDI) outpacing the average for all industries. It said Canada ranks among the top four countries in terms of business access to public equity, private equity and venture capital.
4 min read · 30 November 2016
Bauer hockey gear maker Performance Sports Group Ltd (NYSE, TSX: PSG), has received approval from courts in Canada and United States for the company's "stalking horse" purchase agreement with Power Corp's Sagard Capital Partners LP and Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Announced last month, the deal would see Sagard and Fairfax acquire most of PSG's assets and North American subsidiaries for US$575 million. The courts also approved PSG's access to US$386 million in new debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing. A final sale to Sagard-Fairfax or other potential bidders is expected to occur by the end of February 2017.
4 min read · 30 November 2016
Operative Media Inc, a New York provider of digital advertising business management solutions, has been acquired by SintecMedia, an Israeli broadcast management software company backed by Francisco Partners. No financial terms were disclosed; however, the Wall Street Journal reported the deal's value to be almost US$200 million. Founded in 2000, venture-backed Operative was a portfolio company of Wellington Financial, a Canadian specialty finance firm. Wellington provided Operative with US$11 million in venture debt funding in March 2014.
4 min read · 30 November 2016
Janet Bannister, a general partner at Canadian venture capital firm Real Ventures, has become a member of the board of Volta Labs, a Halifax hub for early-stage technology companies. Bannister, a former eBay and Kijiji executive, joined Real Ventures' Toronto office in 2014. She said she was looking forward to "to getting more involved" in the innovation ecosystems of Halifax and Atlantic Canada. Canadian serial entrepreneurs Leah Skerry and Ross Simmonds were also welcomed to Volta Labs' board.
4 min read · 30 November 2016
Savanna Energy Services Corp (TSX: SVY) announced that its investor, Alberta Investment Management Corp (AIMCo), opposes the company's takeover by Total Energy Services Inc (TSX: TOT). Total announced its intention to acquire the shares of the Calgary contract drilling and oilfield services business last week. AIMCo advised that a change in Savanna's control would result in a change in the terms of its recent financing agreement. This includes a $200 million loan facility, which would become immediately due and payable upon closing should Total acquire Savanna.
2 min read · 29 November 2016
Canadian private equity firm Sprott Resource Corp (SRC) has agreed to combine with Toronto's Adriana Resources Inc (TSX-V: ADI), owner of a 40 percent stake in Québec's Lac Otelnuk iron ore project. The proposed deal, which will create a new entity called Sprott Resource Holdings Inc (SRH), will see holders of SRC shares receive 3.0 ADI shares per SRC share. As part of the deal, SRC's partner Sprott Inc, a Sprott affiliate and Term Oil Inc have agreed to invest $15 million in SRH through the purchase of ADI shares and warrants. Steve Yuzpe, SRC's CEO, said the merger will create "an integrated company with approximately $150 million in investable capital.”
10 min read · 29 November 2016
