Litmus Automation, an Internet of Things (IoT) platform provider, has raised about $2 million (US$1.5 million) in seed funding from U.S. and Canadian angel investors. San Jose, California and Toronto-based Litmus has developed a core product, Loop, a middleware cloud platform for the Internet of Things, that helps connect devices to applications that can generate business value from data. It plans to use the funds raised to hire additional team members. Founded in 2013, Litmus is a graduate of U.S. accelerator Alchemist and Canadian accelerators Ryerson Futures-DMZ and MaRS Discovery District.
4 min read · 31 October 2016
Woodbridge International LLC announced the sale of its Canadian client, Help Desk Technology Corp, to U.S. technology private equity firm BIG Capital. No financial terms were released. Founded in 1993, Oakville, Ontario-based Help Desk develops and sells help desk, service desk and workflow management software. The company also has regional offices in the United States and Barbados. Woodbridge is a U.S. mergers and acquisitions advisory firm.
1 min read · 28 October 2016
TorQuest Partners has completed the final platform deal of its third mid-market fund, signalling the start of preparations to deploy the substantial $925 million raised by Fund IV. The Toronto private equity firm announced this week it invested in McKeil Marine, a marine transportation and project services provider. The deal comes on the heels of TorQuest’s acquisition of natural stone producer Polycor in September.
3 min read · 28 October 2016
Canadian mid-market private equity firm TorQuest Partners has sold Global Traffic Technologies LLC (GTT) to Gilbarco Inc for an undisclosed amount. St. Paul, Minnesota-based GTT is a provider of priority traffic control solutions for public transit and emergency vehicles. Formerly a business division of U.S. conglomerate 3M, GGT was acquired by TorQuest in a carve-out deal in June 2007. In subsequent years, TorQuest invested in the growth and development of the standalone company. Earlier this week, TorQuest invested in marine transport company McKeil Marine Ltd, the final investment of TorQuest Partners Fund III.
2 min read · 28 October 2016
Brookfield Business Partners (BPP) and institutional clients of Brookfield Asset Management have agreed to acquire a 70 percent stake in Odebrecht Ambiental, a Brazilian water distribution, collection and treatment company. The deal has an initial purchase price of US$768 million. About US$125 million may also be committed to fund working capital and growth. Brookfield may also pay a post-closing amount of about US$110 million to the seller, Odebrecht Group, if performance milestones are met. BPP, a listed vehicle, was launched this year to fund Toronto-based Brookfield's private equity deals and invest alongside of Brookfield Capital Partners IV. The latter closed at US$4 billion in June.
6 min read · 27 October 2016
Canadian transportation and logistics company TransForce Inc (TSX: TFI) has acquired the North American truckload operation of XPO Logistics Inc (NYSE: XPO). Transforce will pay about US$558 million in cash for the asset, XPO disclosed in a separate statement. Transforce said the acquisition will expand its truckload logistics services and is expected to generate annual revenue of about US$530 million this year. U.S.-based XPO is backed by Jacobs Private Equity and several institutional investors, including Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and Public Sector Pension Investment Board. It said it will use the sale's proceeds to reduce debt.
4 min read · 27 October 2016
Canadian venture capital firm Innovacorp announced the Nova Scotia government plans to recapitalize the Nova Scotia First Fund. The fund, which is managed by Innovacorp, will as a result have $40 million to invest in early-stage companies in a range of local technology sectors. Earlier this year, the provincial government committed $25 million to a new venture capital fund. Innovacorp said the new fund will support local companies that are in later stages of development. This week, Innovacorp-backed Analyze Re was acquired by Verisk Analytics Inc.
3 min read · 27 October 2016
Mogo Finance Technology Inc (TSX: GO) has added Tom Liston, managing partner at Difference Capital Financial, to its board of directors. Difference Capital is a Canadian provider of debt and equity funding to mostly late-stage private companies in technology, media and healthcare sectors. It is an investor in Mogo, a Vancouver-based online lending platform. Mogo went public in mid-2015, raising $50 million. It has recently secured funding from affiliates of U.S. private equity firm Fortress Investment Group.
4 min read · 27 October 2016
Canadian private markets investor Northleaf Capital Partners has hired Spencer Ross as a senior associate on its private credit team. Ross, who will focus on the origination, evaluation and monitoring of Northleaf's private credit investments in North America, joined from Catalyst Capital Group, a Canadian private equity firm. Before then, he served with U.S. private equity firm KPS Capital Partners. Toronto-based Northleaf has recently announced several appointments to its private credit team, including Managing Director David Ross, who heads the operation.
1 min read · 27 October 2016
Power Corp's Sagard Capital Partners has entered into a confidentiality agreement with the private equity group of Brookfield Asset Managment relating to Performance Sports Group Ltd (NYSE, TSX: PSG), a U.S. maker of sports equipment and apparel. Sagard said it and Brookfield are discussing a possible PSG tranasction, such as a restructuring deal, equity issuance or debt refinancing. Sagard previously announced it held talks of a similar nature with Fairfax Financial. Sagard currently owns about 16.9 percent of PSG shares, while Brookfield owns about 13.2 percent. Exeter, New Hampshire's PSG is reportedly contending with debt and financial concerns.
6 min read · 27 October 2016
